Nasiadai

Over the last few years I have changed my hotel and the area where I holiday in Pattaya. I used to stay on Second Road between Soi 7 and Soi 8, right in the middle of the action. But three years ago I moved to Jomtiem. This change from the middle of the action to the periphery of the Pattaya scene is most probably due to my increasing age and above all to the severe stroke that hit me more than 8 years ago (paralysis of the right side of my body). I chose two great hotels/guesthouses there in Soi Welcome, where I get a nice spacious room for 10,000 baht per month. There are several other good and inexpensive guesthouses in Soi Welcome, many good restaurants and, above all, some bars with lots of pretty girls and opportunities to party, drink and be merry. Joys Paradise und Hotel Happy Bou have been my favourite accomodations in this Soi. I just saw a video of a party on Khun Bou's Facebook page; this party took place two years ago in January 2019, and I was probably there myself. We in the Western world have just had two celebrations: a Christian one, Christmas, and a secular one, the turn of the year, Old Year's Eve. What actually is a festival? To celebrate feasts is human; and I believe that only we humans can celebrate feasts. Neither the palm trees on the beach nor the sea, nor the nightly stars, nor the deckchairs and parasols celebrate feasts. The ships and cranes in the port of Hamburg don't celebrate festivals either. I think that festivals are not celebrated in the animal kingdom either. I have never seen the four or five geckos in my hotel rooms dancing together. Neither the monkeys in the jungle nor a pride of lions after a successful hunt celebrate feasts; that is reserved for us humans. * every religion has its own specific holidays * we celebrate the birth of a child * we celebrate a solemn funeral when a person has died * we celebrate a wedding * we invite friends and drink when we have been promoted or when we have received a hefty pay rise. * the winning of a football championship is celebrated lavishly There are many occasions and ways to celebrate. We human beings are - inevitably - celebrating and therefore festive living beings. For me, the feast is a moratorium on everyday life; it is an exit from grey normality, from daily routine. So my three-month holiday – always in the winter months - as an exit from the Teutonic winter is - in a modest way - a celebration. Live from Hamburg – late! 0.50 am

Mekong, that's right. The world starts laughing about America. Get this clown out of the Oval Office.

The most successful cover version is by the 1963 Liverpool beat band Gerry and the Pacemakers, who for a few years shared the same managers and producers, Brian Epstein and George Martin, with the Beatles, also from Liverpool. George Martin produced the 1963 track together with Gerry Marsden and the Pacemakers. The Pacemakers held the number one spot in the British charts for several weeks. It was ultimately Gerry Marsden's voice that made this song a world hit and an evergreen. It is the very version that we all have in our ears and that we intonate and sing in the stadium. When I started listening to the British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS; it still exists today) on FM as a 14-year-old high school student in about 1963, I took part in the meteoric rise of a new form of rock music, namely the beat. The beat bands usually consisted of 4 to 5 musicians, a drummer and 3 guitarists; possibly a keyboard player. Almost all the groups played their own compositions and were successful, storming the English hit parade. Among them were many songs that became evergreens, long-running hits that are still part of the classic canon of beat and rock music today. All the up-and-coming Beat bands of the time, such as the Beatles and Stones, the Searchers, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Yardbirds, Kinks, Animals. Manfred Mann and many others played (almost) exclusively their own songs from their own production, which they turned into hits. That was what was new about this music! The identity of composer/lyricist and performer/interpreter guaranteed authenticity. Here is an aged Gerry Marsden live at the Anfield Road stadium. His voice, however, is still very beautiful. The Pacemakers had a string of big successes and number 1 hits between 1962 and 1965. For example, in 1963 their How do you do it, which made it the hit of the year in 1963 in England; ahead of the Beatles! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQD-m2AQoXc Another great song is the beautiful ballad Ferry cross the Mersey. A hymn and declaration of love to the city of Liverpool. Auf Wiedersehen und auf Wiederhören Gerry Marsden And: Thank you for these songs.

In 1944 /45, the composer Richard Rogers and his lyricist Oscar Hammerstein were looking for a stage play suitable for a Broadway musical. These two - Rogers and Hammerstein - were the most successful musical writers of the 40s and 50s! The worldwide hits Oklahoma, South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound of Music (about the Trapp family) were all penned by Rogers and Hammerstein. They decided on the Liliom and Molnár gave his approval. They moved the story to 1940s America and "Americanised" the plot. Hammerstein adapted the material, which originated in the imperial and royal monarchy, for an American audience. They also gave Molnár's socially critical play a hopeful ending. They named their joint baby Carousel. The premiere was on 19 April 1945 on Broadway. Carousel was a great success and ran on Broadway for over two years to sold-out audiences. house. One song appears twice in it: "You'll Never Walk Alone". First in the first act, and then in the grand finale with pompous orchestral accompaniment. On the history of its impact: After only several weeks, a successful reception history of this song began. All the great singers and entertainers have covered this song and included it in their repertoire. Louis Armstrong, Shirley Bassey, Chris de Burgh, Ray Charles, Tom Jones, Elvis Presley, the Kelly Family to the Toten Hosen have performed their version of the song. The list is by no means complete. Even the fabulous soprano and opera diva Kiri Te Kanawa has interpreted this song. By the way - in her active days, she was one of the leading Mozart interpreters in the world and one of the most sought-after by conductors with her soft and lyrical soprano voice. Mozart, the great womaniser. None other than Frank Sinatra performed our song at the inauguration of US President George H.W. Bush in January 1989; in a particularly sustained, hymn-like manner. The Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (1858 - 1924) was also so enthusiastic about Liliom that he wanted to make an opera out of it. But Molnár refused to agree, saying: "If you set my piece to music, the whole world will talk of a Puccini opera. But as it is, it remains a piece by Molnár". To be continued

But what is this song about? Where does it come from? Who composed it? Who sang it, played it and made it famous? In 1909, the Hungarian playwright Ferenc (Franz) Molnár wrote his most successful play, Liliom. The first performance was on 7 December 1909 in Budapest. The Austrian writer Alfred Polgar translated the play into German, or to be more precise: he used He used the Austrian idiom, added a lot of "Viennese charm" to the drama and moved the action to the Prater in Vienna. Through Polgar, Liliom began its unique triumphal procession and was performed at all German-speaking theatres and even in Amsterdam, London and New York. Liliom has been filmed several times, e.g. by Fritz Lang, Frank Borzage, Kurt Meisel, Otto Schenk, etc. All the great German-speaking actors have played Liliom: Hans Albers, Curd Jürgens, Helmut Lohner, Paul Hörbiger, Harald Juhnke and many others. When a theatre is on the brink of closure because the municipality no longer grants money, the director and his actors put Liliom on the programme and the theatre is sold out for the next three months. Our Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus also staged the melodrama at great expense in the 80s. I still remember it well. My daughter had just been born and the actors were advertising their play on the big square in front of the theatre. It ran for weeks to sold-out audiences. My urgent recommendation: If Liliom is given in a theatre somewhere in your region or the surrounding area, definitely go and see it! An entertaining, exciting and eventful evening at the theatre is guaranteed. It is precisely Liliom that creates a catharsis in us theatre-goers, we experience a "cleansing" and "purification" through the fact that "lamentation" and "shuddering", "pity and fear" (ancient Greek: eleos and phobos) are aroused in us. Through the stage action, which we as theatre-goers experience at close quarters, a peculiar feeling of pleasure flows through us, which is linked to these states of excitement, into which we as spectators of this melodrama are transported and from which we are released again. Especially in the case of Liliom, which touches all theatre-goers particularly intensely, this discharge of affect is extremely forceful and fervent. To be continued

Singer and musician Gerry Marsden is dead Gerry and the pacemakers. Another childhood memory. The Football Anthem: From the Imperial and Royal Monarchy to Broadway and the Stadium On the genesis history and impact history of the song "You'll Never Walk Alone". On the origin story: "You'll Never Walk Alone" is the stadium anthem in many football arenas around the world. This song softens the heart of even the most hardened football fans. The song describes almost all possible moods at a football match and yet actually has nothing to do with the ball game. It was first sung at Liverpool's Anfield Road stadium, whether on the occasion of a glorious victory or after a bitter defeat. The crowd sang it and the stands joined in: "You'll Never Walk Alone", majestic, exuberant, melancholy-droppy, depending on the result, but always from the heart. When you walk through a storm Hold your head up high And don't be afraid of the dark At the end of a storm Is a golden sky And the sweet silver song of the lark Walk on through the wind Walk on through the rain Though your dreams Be tossed and blown Walk on, walk on With hope in your heart And you'll never walk alone You'll never walk alone To be continued

Play Me the Song of Death - Once upon a Time in the West - Location Comparisons Then & Now Worth seeing 10 minutes. The different filming locations are compared - once in 1968 and now in 2016. Accompanying this is the overwhelming music of this film's soundtrack: the whimpering, wistful wailing harmonica accompanied by the strings carrying the melody, the basses playing the counterpoints. Later, Jill's motif, sung by a female soprano. From about the 10th minute we see the final scene with Jill bringing water to the men. A scene with mythical significance. * The exterior shots were made in the Tabernas desert in the Spanish province of Almería and near Guadix at the train station of La Calahorra, province of Granada, * Cinecittà Studios Rome The interior shots in the Cinecittà studios in Rome. Cinecittà (Italian for "film city") is a film studio complex in the southeast of Rome on Via Tuscolana. These film studios are music to the ears of film lovers. Scenes of legendary flicks such as "Ben Hur", "Quo Vadis", "A Heart and a Crown", "Play Me the Song of Death" or "For a Fistful of Dollars" were shot here. Federico Fellini once had the Via Veneto recreated here for "La Dolce Vita". * And, of course, filming also took place in Monument Valley in Arizona and in Utah, where director John Ford had once directed many important US westerns. In the end credits, the film thanks the Navajo representatives for their support on their Indian reservation there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g35CZzWXBTE A candy on top, for good measure. Jill's arrival at the station somewhere in the middle of nowhere in the West; the station clock has stopped. The camera work is inventive and completely new for the time. Jill enters the conductor's room to ask the stationmaster for information; the camera shows the scene from outside through the open window. Then Jill leaves the room through the front door and the camera, lifted by a crane, travels over the roof of the house to reveal a panoramic view of the emerging western town of Flagstone.The cameraman deserves an Oscar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp0d330bbxs Have fun, enjoy!

Now live again: Now for something completely different. A memory from my – our - youth. This text was written on the sad New Year's Eve of the year 2020; Corona lockdown, everything, but really everything, is closed. I sit alone at home and listen to - yes I indulge, I celebrate - a world-famous piece of music full of melancholy, full of sadness and despair. It is booming from the loudspeakers; I am alone in the whole house, I cannot disturb anyone. Yesterday, 23.12.2021, I watched the film "Spiel mir das Lied vom Tod" for perhaps the 12th time in my life; broadcast on the TV channel 3Sat. 3sat is an advertising-free German-language public television programme. It is a joint facility of German, Austrian and Swiss television. German movie title is: "Spiel mir das Lied vom Tod" = Play Me the Song of Death = ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST I saw this film for the first time in 1970. It had already been showing in German dubbed versions in Düsseldorf cinemas for more than two years and was the topic of discussion for all film enthusiasts. Monumental images, unforgettable actors, beguiling music by Ennio Morricone. The harmonica howls, it sends shivers of unease through my body and my mind. It's the prelude to a western that will last for cinematic eternity. I see three sinister-looking gunmen - figures with long dust coats - occupying a remote railway station. The conductor is unceremoniously locked in a closet - and with that the last spoken word is silenced for the next 10 minutes. From now on, only sights and sounds determine the scenario: the footsteps that make the dilapidated floorboards gasp, the insistent creaking and squeaking of the windmill at the water tower, the drops of water that fall into the felt hat and accumulate inside it to form a drinkable puddle, the excited buzzing and humming of a fly that becomes captive in the barrel of a Colt. It is the exposition of "Play Me the Song of Death", Once upon a Time in the West. In 1968, Italian director Sergio Leone made his masterpiece with Hollywood stars Henry Fonda and Charles Bronson, who was still quite unknown at the time, one of the best westerns of all time, which grandiosely settles the score with the myth of the "Golden West". The perfect epic, at the same time a highlight of the Italo-Western, lives from its grandiose CinemaScope images, of which, unfortunately, little remains on the boob tube. You have to watch this film in a cinema with a big screen. The magnificent film music by Ennio Morricone also remains unforgotten. One of the best westerns of all time! The Monument Valley rest stop somewhere in Utha, Arizona. This movie is a Western staged as a tragic opera and swan song to the genre, multi-faceted, wistful and exciting. A wistful Western that tells of the end of an era, showing how the progress of supposed civilisation and technology rolls mercilessly over the presence, burying the heroes and outlaws beneath it, whether they want it or not. It is a last gasp, both from Sergio Leone, who made his final western with it, and from the characters in the film. For with the railway comes civilisation, bourgeois society with law and order, with sheriff and judge. The end of savagery and lawlessness, the end of the right of the strongest or the one who shoots first and faster. Jill - Claudia Cardinale - changes from the high-class prostitute from New Orleans (harlot with a heart of gold) to the mythical mother. In the final scene she goes out to the railway workers with a water jug and brings them the life-giving water, she embodies the new beginning (after the disaster), departure and new life. She is stylised in this scene as the "original mother" of America. All three male protagonists are relics from a time that is saying goodbye, almost mythical figures because they are larger than life, who no longer have a place in this new, modern world. But the real focus of the film is Jill, she is the emotional centre around which the hustle and bustle of the story revolves, and at the same time the only character with the ability to adapt to all circumstances, no matter how adverse, instead of trying to resist the inevitable with violence. While the harmonica fades away wistfully, I drink another glass of red wine - completely lost in old youthful times. I'm looking at the clock right now: the new year 2021 has just begun.

Finally, I repeat what I have written in other threads about the 2020 election. That concludes the topic of Election 2020, Trump and Biden. In the last two days I read again many texts, essays, articles about Trump and his presidency, which I saved on my computer in the last weeks. After reading them I come to the following conclusion. A review of his presidency. Trump can say: "Mission accomplished". * Obamacare corrected * the illegal influx from the south has been curbed * the Syrian war is cut back to its regional core interests * defused the ongoing conflict with Russia * the unfavorable trade agreements were improved or overturned * he opened the confrontation with an expansive China, postponed by Obama * launched the first successful peace initiative in the Middle East * Beyond that, Trump has not instigated any new wars. Until the outbreak of Corona, the American economy grew and the labor market boomed. All Americans - including blacks - benefited from this. But then Corona came and destroyed the chances of his re-election. Everyone who thinks about Trump's person and his character with honesty, sincerity and common sense, has to come to the same conclusion as I did (see my previous postings). He is an unsuitable person for the office of president. If he had "normal", average qualities, he would have won by a clear margin. He has catapulted himself out of the Oval Office. Many voters voted for Biden not out of conviction, but because they wanted Trump out of the Oval Office. Trump failed because of his deficient personality. He is a victim of his own deficient personality, his inadequate character. If he had a normal average personality with a reliable character; if he had been recognizable as an "average American" in his appearance and actions, he would have won hands down. Right from the start: Trump will not come back. He will not make it again in four years. * Let's assume that Biden remains in office for four years. Will he run a second time then? I don't think so. Then he will be 82 years old and his dementia will have increased. A further term of office will then be impossible. ** Let's assume Biden is replaced by Kamala Harris in two years. Then the USA will get an extremist left-green apocalyptic rider. What will she do? What will her politics look like? a little short brainstorming: * she will tear up the borders - "no man is illegal". * it will make a policy that favors the urban "new middle classes“ It will neglect the entire area between the Apalachian Mountains in the east and the Rocky Mountains in the west. Only the urban centers and the metropolitan areas will benefit from her policy. * It will commit all American industry to ecological and climate-friendly production. This will cost millions more jobs. And not to forget: Behind Harris lurks Bernie Sanders; and behind Sanders there are many younger Americans - most of them with a degree in the humanities, social sciences, or cultural studies - who are unemployed or threatened with unemployment or who are in precarious circumstances. All of them politically far left, socialistic. The USA is heading for troubled times. And I see in the moment no "bridge over troubled waters". The real choice of fate will come in 4 years.

here I give a few reasons why I am interested in American presidents and American politics: The American president is (still) the most powerful man in the world. He is the leader of the most important Western power; his decisions also directly or indirectly affect the other Western states, above all Germany. Since Kennedy's assassination - when I was about 13 years old - I have been interested in American politics and in the respective president. A historical example: If Kennedy had not said the sentence "Ich bin ein Berliner" at that time, with which he declared his support for the Western alliance and the defence of Western Europe, a large part of Western Europe would have become communist. The Soviet pressure was very great and the situation around Berlin was extremely dangerous. The Americans and the British brought democracy to us West Germans in 1945. I say thank you for that. And we were very good and willing students. A few examples: Our political system is very stable. In our country, electoral fraud, electoral forgery is hardly possible, at least not on a large scale. Look at America: something like that is obviously possible there. In our country, voter turnout in federal elections is around 80%. In the US in 2020 it was a catastrophic 64%. That was the highest in 40 years!!! The average voter turnout is 50 plus %. This low figure is depressing for the West's oldest and most important democracy. The low voter turnout also has systemic reasons, among others. There are electoral organisational obstacles that are directed against minorities and underprivileged social groups. Organisational hurdles are being erected that prevent these groups from voting in the first place. Just one concrete example: Almost all German voters need only a few minutes to get to the polling station. The voting process takes no longer than 2 to 8 minutes. In the USA, long queues form in front of the few polling stations and people wait for hours. There are deficits in American democracy. * Catastrophic voter turnout * systemic obstruction of certain groups from voting. * the given possibilities of electoral fraud Here, the oldest democracy can learn from its former pupil to do better. As an American, I would have voted for Trump to prevent Biden and, above all, Kamala Harris.

not live - written 2 days ago. Outside it is cold and grey - 3 degrees. A powerful low pressure system coming from England slowly moves over Germany with rain and snow showers - snow at altitudes and regions above 400 metres. Of course, what else can come from Britain but only bad, unpleasant things. My heating is turned up full and a bottle of red wine - Le Filou Rouge - is waiting to be drunk. Slowly, it is time to say goodbye to an exceptionally entertaining politician. Donald Trump is finding it hard to get used to the fact that a slim majority of his countrymen have denied him a White House lease extension. Donald, you got the notice from the American voter. You are fired. Instead of accepting this fact, he is fighting windmill wings like Don Quixote once did. He is desperately fighting the sack and the withdrawal of love from the American electorate. DT, the trained businessman, has presented himself as a man who prefers to tweet succinctly rather than formulate long speeches. Trump, the linguistically shallow man, knew exactly what he wanted as president and has consistently pointed his country and his party in the right direction. Trump has shaken up the wider world politically. He has called off a sham peace with Iran, helped Arabs and Israelis come to a rapprochement and brought soldiers home from perpetual war zones. He has severely restricted - albeit without a wall - the flow of refugees from the south. Until summer, the American economy was doing very well, the labour market was humming and millions of Americans had good jobs. But then came Corona ..... The boorish American with strong German roots, prone to rumblings, will leave the international arena and concentrate on his home games; the real estate market, and there he has enough to do. Goodbye Mr Trump, we will miss you as a blustering, snotty, sometimes lying entertainer. The world political stage is losing an American president who was one of the most interesting and unusual politicians of his country. On the allegations of fraud, vote rigging, inaccuracies in the election. Trump could have shown style, could have shown poise, could have shown greatness for once in his presidency and said in a great speech. (I am using thoughts and assessments of a German journalist here). "This is my legacy: You have seen how vulnerable our electoral system is to error, falsification and fraud. I have shown you how urgent it is that a stable, fast and transparent system of voting and counting be installed in every state. Not to eliminate errors, because there can always be errors. But to restore the lost confidence in our electoral system by developing a process that is traceable, verifiable, secure and secretive." Why can't I be Donald Trump's idea man and speech writer? This is an opportunity Trump has squandered, and it would be the biggest surprise if Biden seized it. To be continued

The moderator fixed it. I can post pictures again. That's why there are now a few supplements. Delayed for some days. This is not "live". So let me go on with my Corona diary: In times of Corona lockdown - everything is closed, bars, pubs, discos, music clubs, museums, music halls, theatres, cinemas etc., large gatherings of people are forbidden. The Bundesliga plays in empty stadiums - it's crazy. Even family parties with several people are not allowed. Even the most churches are closed over Christmas. No Christmas services with crowded churches. I posted about the painting "The Girl with the Pearl Earring" by Vermeer in my Düsseldorf thread. And yes, I bought an art print of this painting. High-quality reproduction in fine art giclée process worked directly on artist canvas and traditionally mounted on a wooden stretcher frame. Look! There on my wall the picture hangs now and the girl looks at me, I am quite familiar with her; sometimes I hold a dialogue with her and she answers me; especially when I have a few glasses of red wine in my head. Because in the meantime, the picture radiates silence, security and inner peace for me. The two of us maintain a familiar communication. The picture has changed. My initial surprise and curiosity, the tension that the portrait of the girl exerted on me, has given way to a reassuring familiarity, intimateness and friendship. Perhaps it is the subtle colour harmonies and refined shadow sections that achieve these effects. I don't know; it remains a mystery of the great skill of the painter Johannes Vermeer. And yes, I opened a new bottle of red wine: Le Filou Rouge - 1 litre From the description of a German wine importer; I quote and translate: „Le Filou Rouge is a French red wine - completely in the tradition of the classic Vin de Pays. The blend of Grenache, Cinsault and Syrah grapes gives Le Filou Rouge a uniquely harmonious structure: soft in character, with an unmistakable velvety richness. Le Filou Rouge is grown in the southern French departments of Aude, Herault and Gard. The Mediterranean climate there, in combination with the clay and limestone soils, creates optimal growing conditions for this special red wine.“ Vermeer's girl laughs mischievously at me and whispers: Charly, you've earned that wine; Corona is a disaster, so please, have another quarter glass. Enjoy. And I do. Late! too late! 2:20 am central european time CET

Here is the german version of the Bach melody by Alma Cogan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VyRnZL6qVM Here are the Toys: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmJ1AqtTuyo The difference is in the lyrics that is sung. That falls softly on the meadow Birds high above in the trees Serenade the flowers with their melodies oh oh oh See there beyond the hill The bright colors of the rainbow Some magic from above Made this day for us Alma Cogan sings: That's how it always starts: A boy doesn't want to be alone anymore. He looks at you questioningly and holds your hand... Just like in the novel. Oh, that's how it always starts: He only talks about great love. At first you don't believe in it, then later on red roses arrive. My first choice is Alma Cogan's. She has this somewhat smoky voice in the mezzo-soprano - alto range. She has that certain enamel, melodiousness in her voice. Corona - oh I love you....

Something else comes back to me. We want to go out in the evening, the three of us. Yes, wonderful. I take my hairbrush and go through my hair, put on my shoes and am ready. Khun Fah stands in the room and says two or three sentences aloud, making hand movements that are supposed to mean that both, Ott and I, should leave the room. Ott translates for me that she wants to get ready for the evening and that we can both go downstairs to Khun Boh's bar and have our first beer. „What did she say, 'we were allowed to do'?“ I ask my friend. „Yes“, says Ott, „I translated exactly, we have her permission, we are allowed.“ I remember an old song from the 60s, Alma Cogan sings the Lovers Concerto by the Toys in German (actually a minuet by Johann Sebastian Bach) with the German title: „So fängt es immer an“. That's how it always starts. „So fängt es immer an. That's how it always starts“, I say to my Thai friend. „A few days ago I could do what I wanted without asking her. Now she allows what I can do, and in a few days she says to me in a clear unmistakable commanding tone: 'Tonight my favourite TV show is on. We'll watch it together. Don't you dare leave the room.' That's a nice outlook.“ Ott looks at me with a broad grin and pats me encouragingly on the shoulder: „As an old husband with a lot of experince, that sounds familiar to me too. Do you think our Thai women are different from your German ones in this respect?“ You live and learn, leaped to my mind ... A few seconds later we were at the bar enjoying the first beer. no pictures, sorry.

Preliminary remark: German syntax is much more complicated and varied than English. I apologise for violations of the rules of English syntax as well as for linguistic inaccuracies. I have only school English to offer. It is 21. / 22. December 2020; the sun has reached the Tropic of Capricorn, the point of the winter solstice; in the northern hemisphere we now have the shortest day and the longest night (the Scandinavians, British and Canadians know what I am talking about). We are in the season of winter. In our German low mountain ranges and in the Alps we have the first snow, in the Southern Alps in Austria and Italy - Tyrol - the first "snow disaster" happened with up to 3 metres of snow; in some regions even more than 4 metres. The few hours of daylight here in Hamburg are mostly foggy, cloudy and gloomy. There is some rainfall, sometimes snow showers or dangerous freezing rain. Temperatures are between 0 degrees and 8 degrees; depending on the distribution of the high and low pressure areas. So everything is quite normal. In my mind, I beam myself to Jomtiem in Soi Welcome, to the "Happy Bou" hotel. I burst into the middle of an exuberant party, loud rock and pop music, a terrific atmosphere among the party guests, drinking and laughing, everything is just the way it should be at a great party. I sit in the middle of the celebrating guests, sip my Chang beer and begin to review a few adventures and events of the last 2 years in my mind. How was it with Khun Fah, that wonderful girl? She was suddenly there. Just like that. She was present and still is. That is an event of being that I am very happy to put up with. She's 38, has a daughter like me. Her guy ran away from her about 5 years ago. She doesn't speak a word of English. Our communication is via software applications with translation aids on her smartphone and my notebook. Works pretty well. Bachelor manners? Khun Fah got me out of those habits within 1 ½ days; super fast. Peeing on the toilet seat? Is no more, finished. She goes into the bathroom, but comes out again after a second with a face full of anger. I thought, is there an evil spirit in the bathroom now, or some fat cockroach, or just a harmless gecko? She grabs me by the arm and with a loud torrent of words she drags me into the bathroom and points with a gesture of indignation at three yellowish drops of pee. I scratch my head in embarrassment and mumble some excuse in German. She takes toilet paper, moistens it a little with water and then wipes and away. Guys, I have learned that lesson. to be continued The board doesn't allow me to post pictures! What's going on? Where is the moderator?

Hi Flashermac, the last time he posted was on 3. October 2020. Does anybody knows something about his whereabouts?

i will close this thread now, stop it because i can't upload any more pictures. Since 1. November is not over yet and 2. I can't upload any more pictures, I intend to open a new thread. I'm thinking about what I will call it; probably "My Corona Diary" or something like that. Thanks to all my readers; I hope you spend as much time and attention on my new thread. Nasiadai

MPih, oh my goodnees, what a weird, funny story. 55555

Yes, there is a special competition, a rivalry between Düsseldorf and Cologne. Now you have to know that Cologne is the ancient, venerable city, over 2000 years old. It may be that Caesar built a military camp here for his legions, and then built the first bridge over the Rhine to explore the east side with his legions. Düsseldorf is about 1200 years younger. For centuries it was a miserable, poor fishing village, later a small town. In 1288, the village at the mouth of the small river Düssel into the Rhine received its town charter. Düsseldorf only experienced its great upswing with the beginning of industrialisation in the 19th century. These small hints should suffice. one more small hint. When Monsieur Napoleon was planning his campaign against Prussia, he made the 17th century old town pub and restaurant "En de Canon" his headquarters 55555 Here is a picture of this Altstadt-Kneipe and Restaurant and Biergarten. Admin, khun Sanuk, I cannot load up a picture ... that is ridiculous .... ] I assume that you only have a certain megabyte of images available per thread.

Yes, Herr Paul, Jugendherberge = Youth Hostel, right. The Düsseldorf youth hostel has a very prominent address; it is located on the western side of the Rhine, in the noble Oberkassel district. 20% of Düsseldorf's urban area is located on the western bank of the Rhine. This is where the residential areas of the " higher earners" are located; poeple with money. The rents for flats, apartments, are extremely high here; all very expensive. Oberkassel is a somewhat different, unusual and special district. About 20.000 passionate Düsseldorfers currently live here. Oberkassel is by far one of the most beautiful districts of our state capital. [Admin, khun Sanuk, I cannot load up a picture ... that is ridiculous .... ]

Now to something else. Johann Sebastian Bach, and his influence on modern pop music. Stefan (my brother), Bernd (my friend), here we get confirmation of what we have been "researching" for about 50 years and suspect who in the pop world has helped himself to Bach, who has taken inspiration from him. We have often discussed this. Paul Simon, Paul McCartney, Procul Harum and even the Beach Boys. What were the 60s and 70s productive, innovative decades of pop music with really excellent people. And today on the other hand? Florian Silbereisen ... I get the green puke, I could puke. (Silbereisen is a german singer, musician and entertainer) Look here and listen. This David Bennett is really great. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E8HUjxroFA All my readers should watch and listen to this video documentary. Please. Dear daughter Nina, dear niece Johanna, sit down at the computer with your father and switch on the loudspeakers and listen. Stefan, your father, can translate English into German for you. Stefan, you can also play some music on the piano. You know all the Bach pieces very well. When I think of today's young generation, I can only regret it. For 20 years in the pop world, it's been almost nothing but shit... ! For clear facts clear terms. This primitive techno boom boom, this RAP stammering of brainlessness and vulgarity can't be undercut anymore. All rubbish, crap, trash. This is not just rubbish, this is hazardous waste. These annoying noises (I refuse to call it music) are also played in the Gogo Bars at Nana Plaza in Bangkok. My Thai friends and I, we are driven out of the Gogo after a hastily drunk beer; we can't stand it anymore. The eardrums ache, the diaphragm jumps. We storm around the corner into the next almost empty beer bar. After a minute Khun Ott (well known from my travel reports; a former Phantom F-5 pilot) gained the air sovereignty over the notebook.Here the music is controlled and selected. We listen to Wolfgang Petry "Last concert at Schalke". I know, It's not exactly brilliant, but to what we just had to listen to, it's a step up. Ott, General Kwanbun and our flight captain Somyod sing along loudly; they are sure of their words, letter-perfect. They remember the german songs. The mood is rising, the Chang beer begins to flow in streams. For the German crowd here. Wolfgang Petry and his last big concert in 1999: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUgKPhIgmlg I greet you all warmly. It is still November - maybe I will continue with my diary.

On we go ... The question that is now interesting: Why did the successful and intensive reception only began at the end of the 20th century? My answer: It is the modernity of the picture. Painted in the baroque period, in the middle of the 17th century, around 1665, I think that this picture is completely out of the frame of contemporary painting of that time. The girl looks at the viewer, you can enter into a relationship with her, the painter has the face of the girl frozen in exactly one hundredth of a second as a fleeting, friendly smile over her face scurries, with her lips slightly open, as if she wanted to say something or as if she had just spoken. The picture also has the epithet "Mona Lisa of the North". She is not a queen or princess, she is not a noble lady or any other important female person of great society. In fact she is just "the pretty girl next door". Is she turning straight towards or away? "Hey, look over here for a second!" Anyone can make up his own little story about this scene. A short encounter in the stairwell. The boy next door – secretly fallen in love with that girl. He: "Hello, how are you? You look great again today!" She, snappish: "You don't have to bother, I already have a boyfriend." She turns away and leaves. Or a chance meeting at Jungfernstieg or on Königsallee (famous avenues or boulevards in Hamburg and Düsseldorf) He: "Oh, nice to meet you. What strange clothes are you wearing? Is it modern now?" She: "I was in the artgallery at the Vermeer exhibition. The picture with the famous girl can be admired there. You know. I got the beige jacket from the boutique just around the corner, the blue turban with the yellow scarf I got it at a Turkish tailor's shop; and the pearl earrings I bought in a junk shop for three Euro. Do you like my outfit? Do you like my clothing style?" So everyone can fantasise his own story. I'll stop... Here is the original documentation of the Dutchmen. This documentary was then dubbed into German and French (and possibly many other languages) and then shown on the French-German television channel ARTE.TV. The Dutch Jasper Krabbe and the painter Charlotte Caspers and all the other Dutch experts and art experts did a great job. For Khun Sanuk and the Dutch crowd here on the board: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP-ZTRxUrgM Some explanations here; about 4 minutes - in English https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM_IzEAv5d4&t=69s For those who are bored, here about 20 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eELs74YImaw&t=361s

I will now continue with my reporting. We are in deep autumn, the days are already very short and the nights long, the temperatures are autumnally low, it is wet and cold, often foggy and cloudy. In addition, November is full of sad Sundays and holidays such as All Saints' Day, Sunday of Death, National Day of Mourning (commemoration day of the fallen and dead of the two world wars). In addition the Corona Lockdown. All this together creates a sad mood. Corona in Germany - Lockdown throughout November 2020 - all pubs, cafes, restaurants closed. All cinemas, theatres, museums etc. closed. The Bundesliga plays in empty stadiums. That is just terrible. Boredom sets in after three weeks. I make phone calls, have video chats with friends. I read a lot, research and browse the internet for interesting things and I've found what I'm looking for. I have written a lengthy email to my family and a few friends and acquaintances. Here is the revised version translated into English. Hello my dear people and friends, I am enthusiastic about a picture - a painting - and have been for a long time. Some of you will have seen the movie about this painting, maybe even read the book, the novel, written by the American with the French name Tracy Chevalier, about the making of the painting. It became a world bestseller; it was published in German about 2001 and was then filmed in 2003 with great success. You still do not know what the object of my desire is? This painting is actually a relatively young newcomer among the world-famous paintings of the Art history. In 1994 it was extensively and expertly restored and then went on a world tour of several years through many art halls and museums of the world. This world tour made the painting world-famous, it was celebrated. The people poured into the exhibition halls en masse, just to see and marvel at this picture and celebrate it. Then Tracy Chevalier wrote her novel about the creation of this image. The basis of this fictional history were the relatively few reliable data on life and circumstances of the painter. Then followed the Hollywood movie in 2003. This film made the painting even more famous and brought even more fans and museum visitors to this painting. A few weeks ago, out of boredom, I rummaged around in the media library of ARTE.tv and found some really interesting documentaries about this painting. The picture has been examined with the most advanced examination methods of modern high technology to reveal its secrets. "How could this guy paint such a picture? How did that guy do that?" Some Dutch official, interested in art, saw the painting at auction in 1881 and and bought it for about one to 2 Euros. 2 guilders 30. Aaaaaaaaahhh Ich krieg' die Krise = I lose it. Today this painting - at a worldwide auction at Sotheby's, where a few dozen billionaires would be involved in the race - would achieve 40 to 50 million dollars. Presumably that would still be a Bargain price. There is no upper limit; you already know "… on the open-ended Richter scale". We all know that such pictures are actually incompatible with money. So let us refrain from further thoughts and dreams. The title of the picture reads something like this: "The girl with the turban" or simply "Girl's portrait". In Dutch: Meisje met de parel - the girl with the pearl earring. ===> the dutch title is for Khun Sanuk, Marcel. It now hangs forever and ever in the Mauritshuis in The Hague. The mayor had to promise faithfully his people that this painting would never again be on tour; something might happen on the way .... The creator and painter of this work of art is Johannes Vermeer (1632 - 1675) Here is that famous girl: She is wonderful, isn't she? As you can see now, I did not promise too much. to be continued ...

Cavanami, KLEINENBROICH is indeed a little town - around 10.000 inhabitants - not far away from Düsseldorf. But it is not in the north of Düsseldorf, it is in the west. You have to cross the Rhine bridges in a westerly direction. After about 20 km you reach this little town. It is located between Düsseldorf and Mönchen-Gladbach. This actually insignificant town Mönchen-Gladbach is known worldwide because it has this famous football club: Borussia Moenchen-Gladbach. Many very famous German national players come from this club. I only mention one: Berti Vogts, who comes from Kleinenbroich. Berti Voigts was World Champion, European Champion, and as coach of the German national team he won the European Championship in 1996. ok. ok. I stop here ...

One seems to be certain now to 4.11.2020 against 22 o'clock CET: Biden has clearly won the election after all! Biden has won Wisconsin, in Nevada and Arizona he is ahead. Trump has no more chance. I congratulate Mr. Biden on winning the election. Why was Trump not re-elected, why did he lose? Let's have a brief brainstorming session: He is uneducated, has poor judgment, has no psychological empathy, chaotic decision-making style, his decisions are a confused pattern, an inextricable puzzle, resulting in a certain unpredictability. He has hardly any political-philosophical basis, has no well thought-out strategy; he does not really think politico-strategically. Beyond that: His unteachability and overestimation of himself, his mendacity and baseness. He has many other negative qualities that normally characterize a deficient person. One had to be constantly ashamed of this man in the White House. Trump has no chance of turning his defeat into a victory with the help of the courts. Trump has catapulted himself out of the Oval Office. He is a victim of his own deficient personality, his deficient, deficient character. If he had a perfectly normal average personality with a reliable character; if he had been recognizable as an "average American" in his appearance and actions, he would have won hands down. Guys, it's as simple as that. Hamburg, 10 pm - 4.11.2020