Further to my previous post, I've been wondering about all the things we don't actually need.
Many years ago, I had a student at a language school who couldn't understand the point of a picture. Why put a picture, painting or photo on a wall to look at it? No point.
So besides not needing shops any more, we could simplify our lives much, much more.
Let's see.
If art can be seen as serving no useful purpose, we can get rid of art shops, picture framers, museums and art galleries.
We don't need fashion. We could all wear the same uniform. Along the lines of what the Chinese wore in the past: the zhongshan suit, also known as the Mao suit. No need for different colours, no changing fashion, no new styles - ever. No accessories either. Bracelets, rings, earrings, necklaces, brooches are simply totally unnecessary. What are they good for? We don't need them. Just like we don't need shops, right?
We certainly don't need alcohol or cigarettes. But then again, we don't need all the different kinds of tea, coffee, fruit juices and soft drinks. What's wrong with water? That was good enough for primitive peoples and these days, with water treatment plants, plain tap water should be enough for us, too.
We need sustenance, but do we actually need more than 300 different kinds of cheese? Do we need more than one sort of cheese? Do we need cheese at all? Or bread? Or cakes? Or sweets? Or even meat, fish and eggs? Surely, all we need are some protein shakes and - if you really want to chew on something - some oat bars. The kind of stuff you can buy at gyms.
This would mean we don't need kitchens. No more cookers, fridges, freezers and dishwashers or even cupboards for all the crockery and drawers for cutlery, just a small sink for getting the water for our shakes and washing up our cups afterwards. Dinner parties will be a lot easier. No more sitting at a dining table, just chill out on the sofa with a shake each. Think of all the planning that will get rid of.
We don't really need to go on holiday anywhere. Holidays are a relatively new thing for many people and unknown to billions of people all around the world today. People who live a simple life in the rain forests around the world don't feel the need to go anywhere on a day trip or step on a plane to walk around another country. A hundred years ago, plenty of people in Europe never left their village - unless it was to fight in a war. We can, therefore, stay at home and if we want to see something of another country, we have google maps and videos - all online.
Homes can become much smaller as there we have a lot fewer possessions. No books, no kitchenware, no piles of clothing, no dining tables or chairs - rents will be lower, then, right?
The next time someone says "we don't need that", think about all this.
Wednesday, July 29, 2020
Friday, July 24, 2020
Down with shops! Down with shopping!
On The Guardian website, recent articles have talked about how these strange times of coronavirus offer us a chance to do things differently. Bozo the Clown is panicking at the thought that workers will not return to the town and city centres, thus making them a wasteland and forcing shops, cafes, restaurants and pubs to close. A lot of the people commenting on these opinion pieces have said that they will never bother going to a shop again: they can buy everything online already, including food, which is delivered to their home.
I'm all for making wise use of the resources that we have and not buying things out of mere boredom, but online shopping is not that great either.
A couple of months ago, I was tempted to buy some clothes online because the advert of a certain company had caught my eye and the clothes looked great. Not necessarily stuff you can get in shops around here. I bought four items and when they arrived...let's say I was 'disappointed'. The colours and the quality were not what the photos implied. I've worn two of the items, but it's not been warm enough to wear the other two, which I bought for a holiday in Spain.
Internet shopping is also like looking at a map on a small, hand-held GPS device. You can only see a small part of what's on offer at any one time. That's why, when I lead walks, I take a bit paper map with me, so I can see the big picture all in one go.
Two days ago, I went to Karstadt to use up a Christmas gift voucher before the department store closes. I was in the haberdashery department looking for material. When you look at something, it might look nice, but it's only when you feel the fabric can you get a good idea of what it's really like, e.g. thickness, softness, feel, quality. How you can do this online, I don't know.
When I go into a bookshop to buy a book, I go to see what I can find. I don't enter with a pre-conceived idea - well, not most of the time. I do if I need to buy a text book for a language course. I let my eyes wander over everything that's on offer and see what calls out to me. Having 100 books in view at one time is different from the "Readers who bought this book also bought this book" suggestion you find on Amazon.
And if you're looking for clothes, you can pick something up and hold it against another item of clothing to see if they go well together. Not so on the Internet.
Conclusion? I would not want to do without physical shops.
If, however, you take the view of some of the Guardian readers that bricks-and-mortar shops are not necessary as you can buy online, then you can extend that to say that we don't need to go out of doors at all.
We don't need cafes, restaurants, bars, pubs or bakeries - we can make our own meals, cakes, bread and biscuits and we can order drinks from the supermarket and drink at home. And anyway, we can just take some shakes and pills and have done with all the overwhelming choice of food and drink and conserve energy. No need for fridges, freezers and cookers.
We don't need libraries - we can download books to our e-readers or just read online.
We don't need gyms - we can follow exercise routines online and buy our own gym equipment.
We don't need to go to the doctor - they can diagnose us via Zoom.
We don't need nail bars (not that I go to them) or hairdressers - the woman upstairs has her nails done by someone who comes to her. And hairdressers and barbers can come to your home, too. Or just cut your own hair and shave yourself. If you're not going out, it doesn't matter what you look like. Or wear a wig.
We don't need live music venues - we can watch them being streamed online.
We don't need cinemas - we can watch films online.
And let's automate everything so that no-one need build everything because robots will do all that for us.
Basically, we can just end up in little pods of our own - rather like the image of the humans plugged into the Matrix and used as a power source. There'll be no need whatsoever to leave our living quarters at all.
Is that a world you'd like to live in?
I'm all for making wise use of the resources that we have and not buying things out of mere boredom, but online shopping is not that great either.
A couple of months ago, I was tempted to buy some clothes online because the advert of a certain company had caught my eye and the clothes looked great. Not necessarily stuff you can get in shops around here. I bought four items and when they arrived...let's say I was 'disappointed'. The colours and the quality were not what the photos implied. I've worn two of the items, but it's not been warm enough to wear the other two, which I bought for a holiday in Spain.
Internet shopping is also like looking at a map on a small, hand-held GPS device. You can only see a small part of what's on offer at any one time. That's why, when I lead walks, I take a bit paper map with me, so I can see the big picture all in one go.
Two days ago, I went to Karstadt to use up a Christmas gift voucher before the department store closes. I was in the haberdashery department looking for material. When you look at something, it might look nice, but it's only when you feel the fabric can you get a good idea of what it's really like, e.g. thickness, softness, feel, quality. How you can do this online, I don't know.
When I go into a bookshop to buy a book, I go to see what I can find. I don't enter with a pre-conceived idea - well, not most of the time. I do if I need to buy a text book for a language course. I let my eyes wander over everything that's on offer and see what calls out to me. Having 100 books in view at one time is different from the "Readers who bought this book also bought this book" suggestion you find on Amazon.
And if you're looking for clothes, you can pick something up and hold it against another item of clothing to see if they go well together. Not so on the Internet.
Conclusion? I would not want to do without physical shops.
If, however, you take the view of some of the Guardian readers that bricks-and-mortar shops are not necessary as you can buy online, then you can extend that to say that we don't need to go out of doors at all.
We don't need cafes, restaurants, bars, pubs or bakeries - we can make our own meals, cakes, bread and biscuits and we can order drinks from the supermarket and drink at home. And anyway, we can just take some shakes and pills and have done with all the overwhelming choice of food and drink and conserve energy. No need for fridges, freezers and cookers.
We don't need libraries - we can download books to our e-readers or just read online.
We don't need gyms - we can follow exercise routines online and buy our own gym equipment.
We don't need to go to the doctor - they can diagnose us via Zoom.
We don't need nail bars (not that I go to them) or hairdressers - the woman upstairs has her nails done by someone who comes to her. And hairdressers and barbers can come to your home, too. Or just cut your own hair and shave yourself. If you're not going out, it doesn't matter what you look like. Or wear a wig.
We don't need live music venues - we can watch them being streamed online.
We don't need cinemas - we can watch films online.
And let's automate everything so that no-one need build everything because robots will do all that for us.
Basically, we can just end up in little pods of our own - rather like the image of the humans plugged into the Matrix and used as a power source. There'll be no need whatsoever to leave our living quarters at all.
Is that a world you'd like to live in?
Tuesday, July 21, 2020
German grammar demands forward-thinking
I often muse on the fact that when you speak German, you have to think precisely what you want to say, whereas English allows for more flexibility.
For example, in German, you have something called separable verbs, that is to say verbs that consist of two parts that, when used, are often split up and put in different parts of the sentence.
E.g. ansehen = to look at s.th./so.o.
Lass mich dich ansehen. Let me look at you.
BUT
Ich sehe dich an. I am looking at you.
The 'look at you' bit in English, however, keeps the same word order.
There's also a cool bit of German grammar that allows a relative clause to be shoved in front of the noun it refers to and have an adjective ending slammed onto it. You need to have a good memory if you want to remember how you want your sentence to end.
Mark Twain referred to this in his essay entitled The Awful German Language, which he learnt:
"Now here is a sentence from a popular and excellent German novel--with a slight parenthesis in it. I will make a perfectly literal translation, and throw in the parenthesis-marks and some hyphens for the assistance of the reader--though in the original there are no parenthesis-marks or hyphens, and the reader is left to flounder through to the remote verb the best way he can:
"But when he, upon the street, the (in-satin-and-silk-covered- now-very-unconstrained-after-the-newest-fashioned-dressed) government counselor's wife MET," etc., etc. "
Wenn er aber auf der Strasse der in Sammt und Seide gehüllten jetz sehr ungenirt nach der neusten mode gekleideten Regierungsrathin begegnet....."
You also have to know when you start out that the verb 'begegnen' (to meet or encounter someone) takes the dative and not the accusative.
So you can say "Ich habe ihn gesehen" (I have seen him [accusative form of er]) but you have to say "Ich bin ihm begegnet" (I have met him [dative form of er]). And yes, there's an added complication in that you have to use 'sein' with that verb to make the present perfect. Another thing to think about.
When Germans, therefore, start speaking, they have to do a whole lot more forward planning than any English speaker. They have to think of the various cases to use, whether to use 'haben' or 'sein' to make the past or present perfect, which of the 48 possible adjective endings to use, whether a verb requires the noun to be in the accusative, dative or genitive case and whether a conjunction automatically forces verb to the end of that part of the sentence. Not to mention the fact that they have to know the der, die and das of every noun and the right form of the article for the verb they want to use. And then there are the various ways of making a plural. They don't just stick an 's' to the end of nearly all words. Oh, no.
Sometimes I wonder whether all this constant thinking ahead, always planning what they want to say next is why they are more organised and more cautious with regard to the future.
I saw a bit of it when I worked for a Japanese pharma company in London for three years. The British would adjust matters as they went along. The Japanese and Germans wanted to be more precise before they even got started so that there would be nothing to sort out once the ball had got rolling.
This might be why we have the state of affairs that we do regarding the coronavirus crisis and Brexit. They're just making things up as they go along. No forward planning at all.
For example, in German, you have something called separable verbs, that is to say verbs that consist of two parts that, when used, are often split up and put in different parts of the sentence.
E.g. ansehen = to look at s.th./so.o.
Lass mich dich ansehen. Let me look at you.
BUT
Ich sehe dich an. I am looking at you.
The 'look at you' bit in English, however, keeps the same word order.
There's also a cool bit of German grammar that allows a relative clause to be shoved in front of the noun it refers to and have an adjective ending slammed onto it. You need to have a good memory if you want to remember how you want your sentence to end.
Mark Twain referred to this in his essay entitled The Awful German Language, which he learnt:
"Now here is a sentence from a popular and excellent German novel--with a slight parenthesis in it. I will make a perfectly literal translation, and throw in the parenthesis-marks and some hyphens for the assistance of the reader--though in the original there are no parenthesis-marks or hyphens, and the reader is left to flounder through to the remote verb the best way he can:
"But when he, upon the street, the (in-satin-and-silk-covered- now-very-unconstrained-after-the-newest-fashioned-dressed) government counselor's wife MET," etc., etc. "
Wenn er aber auf der Strasse der in Sammt und Seide gehüllten jetz sehr ungenirt nach der neusten mode gekleideten Regierungsrathin begegnet....."
You also have to know when you start out that the verb 'begegnen' (to meet or encounter someone) takes the dative and not the accusative.
So you can say "Ich habe ihn gesehen" (I have seen him [accusative form of er]) but you have to say "Ich bin ihm begegnet" (I have met him [dative form of er]). And yes, there's an added complication in that you have to use 'sein' with that verb to make the present perfect. Another thing to think about.
When Germans, therefore, start speaking, they have to do a whole lot more forward planning than any English speaker. They have to think of the various cases to use, whether to use 'haben' or 'sein' to make the past or present perfect, which of the 48 possible adjective endings to use, whether a verb requires the noun to be in the accusative, dative or genitive case and whether a conjunction automatically forces verb to the end of that part of the sentence. Not to mention the fact that they have to know the der, die and das of every noun and the right form of the article for the verb they want to use. And then there are the various ways of making a plural. They don't just stick an 's' to the end of nearly all words. Oh, no.
Sometimes I wonder whether all this constant thinking ahead, always planning what they want to say next is why they are more organised and more cautious with regard to the future.
I saw a bit of it when I worked for a Japanese pharma company in London for three years. The British would adjust matters as they went along. The Japanese and Germans wanted to be more precise before they even got started so that there would be nothing to sort out once the ball had got rolling.
This might be why we have the state of affairs that we do regarding the coronavirus crisis and Brexit. They're just making things up as they go along. No forward planning at all.
Sunday, July 19, 2020
A nice German pun
To lighten things up, here's a nice pun I read in Stern magazine about 10 days ago. I still think it's cute.
Wo fahren deutsche Sextherapeuten am liebsten in Urlaub?
Gen-Italien.
To appreciate that, you'll have to learn German.
Wo fahren deutsche Sextherapeuten am liebsten in Urlaub?
Gen-Italien.
To appreciate that, you'll have to learn German.
Me? A mouthless submissive? Not on your nelly, mate.
Here's another article by the stirrer at the Daily Wail called Peter Hitchens. It's no wonder that the British are creating such a drama over wearing face masks.
I quote from the article:
"Now it [the State] presumes to tell us what to wear. And what it wants us to wear is a soggy cloth muzzle, a face-nappy that turns its wearer from a normal human into a mumbling, mouthless submissive."
Firstly, a muzzle wouldn't be that easy to take off and secondly, it doesn't stop any human being from shouting out or just speaking normally.
Soggy? My dear Peter Hitchens? How much do you drool normally?
Face-nappy? 'Scuse me? You are going to defecate and pee into that piece of cloth?
Mumbling? Speak up, matey. I had problems understanding the English when I worked in London. I even went so far as to have a hearing test when I visited my Oma in Berlin when I was still working in the UK. The ENT doctor said I had perfect hearing. "So," I said to him. "It's official then. The English mumble and that's why I have to ask them to repeat things all the time." He agreed with me that that must be the case.
I have no problem making myself understood even with my double-layered, hand-sewn cloth face mask. Just speak up and enunciate.
Mouthless? Am I bodyless when I wear clothes?
Submissive? Me? Seriously? Just because I have a bit of cloth over my mouth for a few minutes? Come off it.
And that is why we have such a parlous state of affairs in the UK. People who think like that - and the fact that they actually get published and read and even believed by so many readers who are unable to think for themselves and so swallow everything they see in print.
God help us. Please.
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
Face masks cause brain damage?
Sitting over here in Germany, reading the UK press, all I can do is shake my head in sheer incredulity at the violent refusal of a lot of British people to wear face masks in so-called 'non-essential' shops (i.e. shops other than supermarkets).
It became compulsory to wear face masks in public buildings and shops on 27 April in Germany. Yes, there are some idiots who don't like it here, but the overwhelming majority of the people here comply with the rules. Even when walking through the main station in this town, people wear a face mask as requested. And I am always pleasantly surprised to see that people you would not expect to comply with the rules actually do.
I was on a train last Sunday and a young family got on board. The father looked like a thug. Tall, shaven-headed, muscular and heavily tattooed. He didn't sit down but just stood next to the train door and I supposed that he would be too belligerent a character to put a face mask on - but he did.
Whenever I go into a shop - especially a small shop - I quickly whip a face mask on. After all, I don't want to pass on anything to the shopkeeper because, should he or she fall ill, then they will have to close the shop and won't have any income whatsoever. The shop will close and the high street will look desolate with all the empty shops. I don't want to live in that kind of place so... I wear a face mask. You could say, that I'm doing it for very selfish reasons.
Another selfish reason for wearing a face mask is the fact that I want these strange times to be over as quickly as possible. I'm willing to be patient until September. But that's as far as my patience will stretch. I want to start earning money again. I want to start teaching again. I want to start enjoying my evening classes again and to be able to sit in the English library with a coffee and the latest papers and journals. I want my life back again. I'm selfish that way.
In the UK, face masks have only been compulsory in supermarkets. Bozo and his minions have, until now, stated that face masks are not effective. And now...they are in the process of doing a U-turn and people will have to wear masks in all shops - but only as of 24 July.
You should hear the outcry this has invoked in the UK. The objections are legion.
The most jaw-dropping objection is the claim that wearing a face mask could cause brain damage as it will starve the brain of oxygen. Seriously.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-8513191/Will-Covid-mask-starve-brain-oxygen.html
I quote from the article: "The claims, often made in widely shared social media posts, sound alarming. Face masks increase the risk of catching Covid-19; they suppress the immune system; wear one long enough and they’ll push up your blood pressure, starve the body of oxygen and allow carbon dioxide to build to toxic levels."
But the same article does point this out: "After a study found that face coverings reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission by a third, president of the Royal Society, Professor Venki Ramakrishnan, suggested that failing to wear one is as ‘anti-social’ as drink-driving or not putting on a seatbelt. ‘If all of us wear one, we protect each other and thereby ourselves,’ he says.""
What's even more amusing than reading the articles in the Daily Mail is reading the comments of the readers. Here is a typical example:
Here is today's article about the need to wear face masks in shops as of next Friday:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8523273/Shoppers-refuse-wear-face-mask-turned-away-ministers-reveal.html#reader-comments
Face masks are said to reduce the risk of infection by one third. And yet the 'expert' readers of the Daily Mail are furious about the need to wear a face mask for the 10 or 15 minutes that they may find themselves in a shop.
Here is a selection of indignant comments:
The only reason it seems that the UK hasn't had so many more cases of the virus than Germany is simply because the country hasn't managed to test so many people. In fact, the failure of the UK to be able to carry out tests is another story that is just as sorry as the face mask fiasco.
It became compulsory to wear face masks in public buildings and shops on 27 April in Germany. Yes, there are some idiots who don't like it here, but the overwhelming majority of the people here comply with the rules. Even when walking through the main station in this town, people wear a face mask as requested. And I am always pleasantly surprised to see that people you would not expect to comply with the rules actually do.
I was on a train last Sunday and a young family got on board. The father looked like a thug. Tall, shaven-headed, muscular and heavily tattooed. He didn't sit down but just stood next to the train door and I supposed that he would be too belligerent a character to put a face mask on - but he did.
Whenever I go into a shop - especially a small shop - I quickly whip a face mask on. After all, I don't want to pass on anything to the shopkeeper because, should he or she fall ill, then they will have to close the shop and won't have any income whatsoever. The shop will close and the high street will look desolate with all the empty shops. I don't want to live in that kind of place so... I wear a face mask. You could say, that I'm doing it for very selfish reasons.
Another selfish reason for wearing a face mask is the fact that I want these strange times to be over as quickly as possible. I'm willing to be patient until September. But that's as far as my patience will stretch. I want to start earning money again. I want to start teaching again. I want to start enjoying my evening classes again and to be able to sit in the English library with a coffee and the latest papers and journals. I want my life back again. I'm selfish that way.
In the UK, face masks have only been compulsory in supermarkets. Bozo and his minions have, until now, stated that face masks are not effective. And now...they are in the process of doing a U-turn and people will have to wear masks in all shops - but only as of 24 July.
You should hear the outcry this has invoked in the UK. The objections are legion.
The most jaw-dropping objection is the claim that wearing a face mask could cause brain damage as it will starve the brain of oxygen. Seriously.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-8513191/Will-Covid-mask-starve-brain-oxygen.html
I quote from the article: "The claims, often made in widely shared social media posts, sound alarming. Face masks increase the risk of catching Covid-19; they suppress the immune system; wear one long enough and they’ll push up your blood pressure, starve the body of oxygen and allow carbon dioxide to build to toxic levels."
But the same article does point this out: "After a study found that face coverings reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission by a third, president of the Royal Society, Professor Venki Ramakrishnan, suggested that failing to wear one is as ‘anti-social’ as drink-driving or not putting on a seatbelt. ‘If all of us wear one, we protect each other and thereby ourselves,’ he says.""
What's even more amusing than reading the articles in the Daily Mail is reading the comments of the readers. Here is a typical example:
I live in Scotland and our Dear Leader has forced us to wear masks in shops. My mask is already covered in snot and spit. I can hardly breath with it on so I am always pulling it out from my face. My hands get covered and then touch things in the shop . The shop workers are also forced to wear masks and I see them fiddling about with theirs. They then go on to stack the shelves and handle your purchases at the check out with their contaminated hands. Lovely.
Well, I live in Germany and have sewn 7 cloth face masks and strangely enough, they have stayed clean. No mucus, no spit. No problems breathing. I don't see anyone fiddling with a face mask. Not even the children.
My view coincides with that of another person commenting on the same article:
Chris Holmes, london, United Kingdom, 3 days ago
I think the people on the Internet that think that already have brain damage
Here is today's article about the need to wear face masks in shops as of next Friday:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8523273/Shoppers-refuse-wear-face-mask-turned-away-ministers-reveal.html#reader-comments
Face masks are said to reduce the risk of infection by one third. And yet the 'expert' readers of the Daily Mail are furious about the need to wear a face mask for the 10 or 15 minutes that they may find themselves in a shop.
Here is a selection of indignant comments:
Any shops that try to enforce that on me will find I turn round and replace them with an alternative shop that doesnt or do online shopping. If I have no option but to use a particular shop - they will be told they WILL be delivering my shopping to me (rather than me fetching it as normal) and I do not expect to have a delivery charge imposed on me for THEIR decision to be awkward.
I work in a shop and if you think I am going to tell someone to wear a mask you are sadly mistaken enough shop staff are attack@@ as it is
What are they doing about the massive litter problem already being caused by covidiot mask wearers abandoning their germ-filled masks on the streets rather than taking them home? If you have to wear a mark to more places, the problem will get even worse.
I won't wear a mask, and i'll walk in anywhere and give a business a chance, and if they wish to ask me to leave, then i will, and therefore their business will make less money, when i do.
Comply, or stay at home if you don't like it. You Don't have the right to spread a dangerous infection.
Boris looks like he is wearing a pair of blue knickers on his face. This whole mask business just creeps me out, everyone with their little fetishist symbols on their mask, its like some kind weird elitist occult ritual. I will never wear one!
1940s Germany
OK bye bye stores if you don't want customers.
"Shoppers refused entry to the shop"... Given that the Chancellor is throwing money at all and sundry... if a shop keeper refuses a customer under the instructions and reasons given to him by the government......... Can the shopkeeper claim as a revenue loss, the 1.15p for milk that I was preparing to spend.? Between the shop keeper and I, we were quite content to trade, whether I was wearing fancy dress or not.... Government officials & the Virus Police however say "English citizens are not allowed purchase milk from a trading store....unless they are wearing a mask" Monty Python should sue for plagiarism.... Boris & Co must have found a box of old scripts.....
And so the comments go on. Other protests include "I'm claustrophobic", "I'd feel too self-conscious wearing one" and "wearing a mask steams up my glasses". I've not had any problem with fogged-up glasses while reading the papers in the main municipal library for an hour or two.
Here in Germany, we can go to the cinema, wearing masks while moving through the building. No need to wear it when sitting in our spaced-out seats.
We can go into cafes and restaurants, wearing masks while moving through the building. No need to wear one when seated at our table. Staff do have to wear a mask at all times. in the UK, you can go to these places no, but there's no need for anyone to wear a face mask.
We can go to the library, wearing masks all the time, even when seated at a table reading. Staff are behind perspex screens; they don't need to wear one when seated behind the screen.
We can go swimming, wearing a mask while showing our ticket and moving through the building. No need to wear one poolside.
We were allowed to go and get our hair cut over a month ago. Both the hairdresser and the customer have to wear face masks. Not in the UK, though. Oh, no.
We can go to museums, wearing a mask while moving through the building.
We can go shopping as normal, wearing a mask inside the building and complying with the rules of the shop that might limit the number of people in the shop at any one time.
By complying with these rules, we have more freedom.
And you have to look at the daily figures of new confirmed cases of the virus and the death toll. The basic rule, I have found, over the last few months, is that the number of new cases every day in Germany was about one quarter of that in the UK and the number of deaths one tenth. For the last 10 days, the death toll in Germany has generally been in single figures, apart from one day when it was 12.
Overall, the figures are more impressive. These are the figures for Germany:
- 200.736
bestätigteFälle
seit Beginn der PandemieConfirmed cases since the start of the pandemie - 5.518aktive Fälle
Active cases - 11.352freie Betten (free beds)
- 9.242gestorben
Died - 185.976genesen (recovered)
And for the UK:
The only reason it seems that the UK hasn't had so many more cases of the virus than Germany is simply because the country hasn't managed to test so many people. In fact, the failure of the UK to be able to carry out tests is another story that is just as sorry as the face mask fiasco.
Many people around the world cannot understand British people's recalcitrance when it comes to wearing a simple cloth mask (even bandannas worn like a bandit or cowboy are accepted). As can be seen in some of the readers of the Daily Mail who live in Asia, where wearing a face mask in winter when you have a cold is a common courtesy to your fellow human beings.
But not in the UK. Oh, no. They'd rather not put up with a bit of cloth over their mouths for the time they spend in a public building for the sake of getting all the restrictions behind them as soon as possible. They'd rather have everything shut than comply with a simple rule that would allow them to have more options opened to them.
It seems that despite free education until the age of 18, there are many people still unable to think.
I despair for the future.
Update from The Guardian of today:
Update from The Guardian of today:
Further 85 Covid 19-related deaths in the UK
Monday, July 13, 2020
Cinema? Paradise!
Yesterday, Sunday, I did something I'd not done since before this health crisis: I went to the cinema.
As a lot of new releases are being held back, cinemas large and small are seizing the opportunity to show some favourites again, such as Amelie and, my favourite, The Lord of the Rings.
As of yesterday, the big cinema next to the main station stared showing each part of LOTR and The Hobbit (which I hated) over consecutive weekends.
Now you might think that sitting in an enclosed space with other people in these crazy times is the height of madness, but since the films are already 19 to 17 years old and there had been about 4 showings in German before this final one in the original English this weekend, I didn't think the room would be too crowded. And I was right. In a space that could seat 273 people, there were about 40 of us. I didn't have anyone near me.
By heck, it was wonderful to sit back with a the smallest possible portion of popcorn, in a velvet double seat, in the dark, knowing that there were like-minded people in the same room, and enjoy the marvellous sound system and one of the best films ever on a large, large screen. The film is as good and fresh now as it was when I first saw it - and I saw each part of LOTR at least 24 times in the cinema when it first came out and every year on my small computer screen ever since.
I recently read a comment by a newspaper reader who couldn't understand why anyone would go to the cinema when large TV screens are now available for home viewing. And I can't understand why anyone would want to watch a magnificent - or as my mother described LOTR 'bombastic' - film on a large TV screen when a full-sized cinema screen is available.
As I watched The Fellowship of the Ring again yesterday, I couldn't help but marvel at all the details that were once again noticeable on such a large screen. And I almost squealed with delight when I realised that the lovely people in the cinema had decided to show the extended version of the film. That's about 30 minutes more than the usual version!! I was a bit rusty with some of the lines, getting only some of them word perfect. Other lines I spoke as the actor was speaking them had a word wrong.
Now a lot of newspaper readers in the UK say how badly people behave in cinemas there: talking, loud eating, texting, fidgeting...and I have to say that apart from two grown women who should have had better control over themselves talking too much during a Harry Potter marathon (all 8 films on one day - I walked out in the middle of film 7), I've never had any reason to complain about my fellow cinema-goers. Not even when viewing children's films with my god-daughter when she was very small.
Yesterday, when I left the auditorium, I looked at the others that had sat there for the full 3 hours and 20 minutes of the film and I think I was probably the oldest person there. I think a lot of them had been small children when the films had first come out.
As soon as the film started, there had been complete and utter silence. I heard nothing from anyone. No lights from mobile phones either. And when the film finished and the credits came up and the song started, no-one stirred. There was no rush for the doors. No talking. Nothing. Perfect behaviour.
For me, the cinema constitutes one of my three favourite habitats, along with libraries and any place where I can swim.
And it's also a constituent part of my idea of paradise, which is also made up of the sixth floor of the Berlin department store called KaDeWe (the food section), a large park or garden, a swimming pool and a library. Food, swimming, reading, nature and films - what more could one wish for in paradise? Being back in the cinema yesterday was, therefore, sheer heaven.
As a lot of new releases are being held back, cinemas large and small are seizing the opportunity to show some favourites again, such as Amelie and, my favourite, The Lord of the Rings.
As of yesterday, the big cinema next to the main station stared showing each part of LOTR and The Hobbit (which I hated) over consecutive weekends.
Now you might think that sitting in an enclosed space with other people in these crazy times is the height of madness, but since the films are already 19 to 17 years old and there had been about 4 showings in German before this final one in the original English this weekend, I didn't think the room would be too crowded. And I was right. In a space that could seat 273 people, there were about 40 of us. I didn't have anyone near me.
By heck, it was wonderful to sit back with a the smallest possible portion of popcorn, in a velvet double seat, in the dark, knowing that there were like-minded people in the same room, and enjoy the marvellous sound system and one of the best films ever on a large, large screen. The film is as good and fresh now as it was when I first saw it - and I saw each part of LOTR at least 24 times in the cinema when it first came out and every year on my small computer screen ever since.
I recently read a comment by a newspaper reader who couldn't understand why anyone would go to the cinema when large TV screens are now available for home viewing. And I can't understand why anyone would want to watch a magnificent - or as my mother described LOTR 'bombastic' - film on a large TV screen when a full-sized cinema screen is available.
As I watched The Fellowship of the Ring again yesterday, I couldn't help but marvel at all the details that were once again noticeable on such a large screen. And I almost squealed with delight when I realised that the lovely people in the cinema had decided to show the extended version of the film. That's about 30 minutes more than the usual version!! I was a bit rusty with some of the lines, getting only some of them word perfect. Other lines I spoke as the actor was speaking them had a word wrong.
Now a lot of newspaper readers in the UK say how badly people behave in cinemas there: talking, loud eating, texting, fidgeting...and I have to say that apart from two grown women who should have had better control over themselves talking too much during a Harry Potter marathon (all 8 films on one day - I walked out in the middle of film 7), I've never had any reason to complain about my fellow cinema-goers. Not even when viewing children's films with my god-daughter when she was very small.
Yesterday, when I left the auditorium, I looked at the others that had sat there for the full 3 hours and 20 minutes of the film and I think I was probably the oldest person there. I think a lot of them had been small children when the films had first come out.
As soon as the film started, there had been complete and utter silence. I heard nothing from anyone. No lights from mobile phones either. And when the film finished and the credits came up and the song started, no-one stirred. There was no rush for the doors. No talking. Nothing. Perfect behaviour.
For me, the cinema constitutes one of my three favourite habitats, along with libraries and any place where I can swim.
And it's also a constituent part of my idea of paradise, which is also made up of the sixth floor of the Berlin department store called KaDeWe (the food section), a large park or garden, a swimming pool and a library. Food, swimming, reading, nature and films - what more could one wish for in paradise? Being back in the cinema yesterday was, therefore, sheer heaven.
I knew there had to be some benefit to housework
You might be wondering why there's been a three-week hiatus in my postings here. Well, for the first week, I was off on holiday in the small spa town of Bad Lippspringe. The hotel I found online there when I searched for "Badeurlaub NRW" (swiming holiday NRW) had pools indoors and outside, so, seeing as how a summer holiday involves swimming and walking, I booked a 7-night special offer there.
For seven nights, I managed to sleep 8 hours and enjoyed a nice buffet, all-you-can-eat breakfast and a three-course dinner, laden with cream. (I think the chef must have had shares in a dairy.)
I returned on Monday 29 June, reasonably refreshed, whereupon I rammed my left elbow into the office door handle because I didn't take the time to open the door wide enough. The pain started when I wanted to lie down to sleep. I couldn't. Well, I could sleep (eventually)...just not lying down. And this is still the case.
And then, just to make sure that I knew the meaning of the word 'pain', I hit the lower part of my left arm, just above the wrist, on the same door handle again three days later. The dent in my arm still there.
Ibuprofen 400, aspirin, Voltaren...no help. Two corticosteroid injections in the first week, some help. The best pain relief, however, is a low-tech solution: a pack of frozen vegetables.
Having done a lot of online research, I've learnt that the stupid things I've done to my arm take between 6 and 12 weeks to heal and the best things to do can be summed up by the acronym of RICE: rest, ice, compression and elevation. All things that I am doing. Germans keep urging me to go to the doctor again, but I keep asking, "What can they do for me? Can they give me four weeks in a bottle? These things just take time to heal."
Which leads me to the point about housework. During the day, I have an elbow bandage on the elbow (obviously) and another strap looped over my thumb and wrapped around the wrist. At night time, I take them off.
Yesterday, I woke up and could not for the life of me find the strap for the wrist. I searched the flat three times. Perplexed. Completely. I could only imagine that the fairies were playing tricks on me again. (Fairies are my explanation whenever I can't find something. I swear that they move things round deliberately just to annoy me.)
A bit later, I decided to at least tidy up my bedroom. There were two pairs of jeans on my trunk, and two on the 'floordrobe'. Folding them up neatly and putting them into the wardrobe, I discovered the black strap: in the pocket of one of the jeans, stuffed into it when I took the strap off in the bathroom before washing my face.
You see? Being tidy and clearing up around the home does have its advantages. I'm sure my mother would be proud of me. I just now have to tidy up the office in the hope of finding an old passport I seem to have mislaid. But that's a task for another day. No need to rush these things.
For seven nights, I managed to sleep 8 hours and enjoyed a nice buffet, all-you-can-eat breakfast and a three-course dinner, laden with cream. (I think the chef must have had shares in a dairy.)
I returned on Monday 29 June, reasonably refreshed, whereupon I rammed my left elbow into the office door handle because I didn't take the time to open the door wide enough. The pain started when I wanted to lie down to sleep. I couldn't. Well, I could sleep (eventually)...just not lying down. And this is still the case.
And then, just to make sure that I knew the meaning of the word 'pain', I hit the lower part of my left arm, just above the wrist, on the same door handle again three days later. The dent in my arm still there.
Ibuprofen 400, aspirin, Voltaren...no help. Two corticosteroid injections in the first week, some help. The best pain relief, however, is a low-tech solution: a pack of frozen vegetables.
Having done a lot of online research, I've learnt that the stupid things I've done to my arm take between 6 and 12 weeks to heal and the best things to do can be summed up by the acronym of RICE: rest, ice, compression and elevation. All things that I am doing. Germans keep urging me to go to the doctor again, but I keep asking, "What can they do for me? Can they give me four weeks in a bottle? These things just take time to heal."
Which leads me to the point about housework. During the day, I have an elbow bandage on the elbow (obviously) and another strap looped over my thumb and wrapped around the wrist. At night time, I take them off.
Yesterday, I woke up and could not for the life of me find the strap for the wrist. I searched the flat three times. Perplexed. Completely. I could only imagine that the fairies were playing tricks on me again. (Fairies are my explanation whenever I can't find something. I swear that they move things round deliberately just to annoy me.)
A bit later, I decided to at least tidy up my bedroom. There were two pairs of jeans on my trunk, and two on the 'floordrobe'. Folding them up neatly and putting them into the wardrobe, I discovered the black strap: in the pocket of one of the jeans, stuffed into it when I took the strap off in the bathroom before washing my face.
You see? Being tidy and clearing up around the home does have its advantages. I'm sure my mother would be proud of me. I just now have to tidy up the office in the hope of finding an old passport I seem to have mislaid. But that's a task for another day. No need to rush these things.
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