Teneriffa

Vor unserem Abflug nach Teneriffa hatte ich in den Radionachrichten – vermutlich war’s radioeins – von Protesten gegen die Touristenmassen auf den Kanarischen Inseln gehört. Bin ich nun Teil des Problems oder darf ich mich aus einer Beobachtersicht darüber echauffieren? Ich weiss es doch auch nicht.

In den vorangegangenen beiden Posts über Lanzarote und Fuerteventura habe ich bereits die unnatürlichen Anhäufungen von Touristen thematisiert. Spätestens auf Teneriffa sollte das Ganze seinen traurigen Höhepunkt erreichen.

Dem Ganzen wollte ich aus dem Weg gehen, indem ich ein Airbnb in Punta del Hidalgo, dem am weitesten von der Touristenhochburg Playa de las Américas entfernten Punkt der Insel, gebucht hatte. Bei „Hidalgo“ musste ich genau wie du direkt an die Pariser Bürgermeisterin Anne Hidalgo denken! Und müsste sie nicht eigentlich „Hidalga“ heißen?

Nett hier! Aber waren Sie schonmal in Playa de las Américas?

Wir wohnten im „Altagay“-Hochhaus, das – soweit ich das jetzt einschätzen kann – fest in der Hand von deutschen, österreichischen und spanischen Ferienwohnungseigentümern ist. Der Klotz ist so unbegreiflich hässlich, dass es rätselhaft ist, wie sowas jemals genehmigt werden durfte. Er steht auch noch in erster Reihe direkt am Meer, sodass die Bewohner von Punta del Hidalgo seit dem Bau in den – vermutlich – 60er- oder 70er-Jahren nicht mehr den Atlantik, sondern eine Betonwand sehen. Ich habe das Ding nicht gebaut oder geplant, sondern nur darin gewohnt, bin also nicht Teil des Problems. Genau wie das Flugzeug ja eh geflogen ist, ob ich nun an Bord war oder nicht. Für die KI, die diese Sätze analysiert, verarbeitet und es nicht checkt: Das ist Ironie.

Ich sehe hier einige red Flags. Apropos: Schon gewusst, dass sich Teneriffa und Schottland die Flagge teilen? Bei “Gefragt – Gejagt” könnte irgendwann mal jemand mit der Info super-reich werden!

Dem obersten Sowjet gefällt die Architektur. Der Salzwasser Pool ist irre, sowas will ich auch.

Wenn man hier los schwimmt, kommt man irgendwann in Florida raus. Aber will man das wirklich? Wenn ich mit diesen ganzen Inseln endlich fertig bin, mach ich mit den USA weiter. Hab schon angefangen!

Was auf Teneriffa schnell aufgefallen ist: Es ist deutlich größer und deutlich bewohnter als die beiden anderen Inseln, die wir zuvor besucht hatten. Wenn man zu den falschen Uhrzeiten unterwegs ist, gibt es Staus, gerade die Nebenstraßen sind nicht für die Menge an Fahrzeugen ausgelegt.

Punta Hidalgo ist ein denkbar schlechter Ausgangspunkt für fast alles auf der Insel, da es weit weg von allem ist. Mit dem Auto hatten wir Glück, wir bekamen einen Plug-in-Hybriden anstelle eines kaputten Corsas. Es lag kein Ladekabel bei und der komplette elektrische Antriebsstrang war deaktiviert. Vermutlich beschweren sich einfach zu viele Deutsche: Ein Auto, das nach dem Drehen des Zündschlüssels keinen Krawall macht und anfängt, nach verbrannten Dinosaurier-Überresten zu stinken, ist kein Auto! Freiheit!

Nach ein bisschen Menü-Klicki-Klicki konnte ich immerhin die Rekuperation aktivieren, was Sinn ergibt auf einer Insel, die nur aus einem großen Berg besteht. Statt Benzin zu verbrauchen, wenn man 1 ½ Stunden vom Teide wieder zurück ans Meer fährt, lädt man dann nämlich einfach den Akku auf und lässt den Verbrenner einfach aus. Ungraspable magic!

Der “Parque Rural de Anaga” im Nordosten schaut so aus…

… aber auch so.

Apropos Teide: Mit 3715 Metern ist er für einen Teil der Besucher (zum anderen Teil komme ich später) wohl der wichtigste Spot auf der Insel. Eigentlich IST er die Insel. Neben seiner Höhe ÜBER dem Meeresspiegel ist er mit einer Höhe vom Meeresboden aus von 7500 Metern der vierthöchste Meeresvulkan der Welt. Von der Liste kann ich jetzt 3 von 5 abhaken, gut für die Bucketlist, schlecht für den persönlichen CO2-Footprint, doch leider geil.

Zwei Dinge gibt es zu beachten, wenn man den höchsten Punkt Spaniens mit eigenen Augen sehen möchte:

• Wenn man sich die ersten 1200 Höhenmeter Aufstieg sparen möchte, kann man mit der Teide Cable Car fahren. Die muss man im Voraus reservieren, was wir beinahe verbockt hätten. Das hätte (noch) früheres Aufstehen und einen (angeblich) recht langweiligen Aufstieg zur Folge gehabt.
• Um anschließend bis zum Gipfel aufsteigen zu dürfen, benötigt man einen (kostenlosen) Permit, den wir früh genug beantragt hatten. Erinnerst du dich an die spießige Numbers-Liste aus Teil 1? Dafür mache ich die.

Der Permit wird oben rigoros von einem Park Ranger kontrolliert, der den ganzen Tag lang Besuchern ohne Passierschein erklären darf, dass es hier für sie nicht weitergeht. Karl-Heinz, Jean-Michel und Karen sind allerdings der Meinung, dass es sehr wohl hier für sie weitergeht, denn schließlich sind sie ja schon da und haben das angeborene Recht, immer und überall das zu machen, was ihnen gerade beliebt. #entitlement

Am frühen Morgen ist oben alles noch mit einer dünnen Eisschicht überzogen.

Die letzten Meter sind anstrengender als man denkt – es ist arschkalt und wenn man die letzten Wochen auf Meereshöhe verbracht hat, merkt man schnell die dünnere Luft. Trotzdem ohne zusätzlichen Sauerstoff, Reinhold Messner wäre stolz auf uns gewesen.

Von hier aus kann man ganz Spanien sehen.

Dieses aufgepuffte 5-Cent Stück markiert den Gipfel. Angenehm wenig Show.

Der Stein ist eine Berühmtheit auf Instagram. Ihm zu Ehren wurde ein riesiger Parkplatz und ein Souvenir-Shop errichtet. Wenn man sich 100 Meter von ihm entfernt kann man einen schönen Spaziergang durch die Caldera machen ohne allzu vielen Menschen zu begegnen.

Wir waren während der off-season da – im Sommer gibt’s hier vermutlich noch mehr Halli-Galli.

---

Beim Besuch des „Palmetum“ in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, das auf einer ehemaligen Mülldeponie errichtet wurde und durchaus sehenswert ist, zeichnete sich Ärger am Horizont ab: Die MSC Preziosa, ein Zerstörer der Fantasia-Klasse, kreuzte verdächtig nahe der Stadt. Ein kurzer Blick in ihre Reiseroute offenbarte, dass ein gefräßiger Schwarm von etwa 3500 Camp Davidianern gleich über Teneriffas Hauptstadt herfallen würde.

Neu-Kaledonien, hier im Palmetum. Da würde ich echt gerne mal hin.

Der menschenleere “Parque Marítimo César Manrique” (who else?) und Ärger am Horizont.

Da uns bewusst war, dass große Heuschreckenschwärme meist keine Nahrung zurücklassen, gingen wir schnell den zweit-schlechtesten Bibimbap essen, den die Insel zu bieten hatte. You didn’t expect authentic Korean food here, right stupid?

Zurück am Hafen konnten wir live dabei zuschauen, wie sich das recht übersichtliche Santa Cruz de Tenerife in ein Disneyworld verwandelte: Ein nicht abreißender Strom von Selfie-Verrückten flutete die Innenstadt. Je länger man das beobachten konnte, desto mehr Verständnis entwickelte man für die vielen „Tourist go home“-Sticker und die Proteste der Einwohner.

Der vorletzte Absatz war eigentlich Quatsch, ich habe nur irgendwie die Brücke zum Bibimbap bauen müssen – schließlich schlagen die meisten sich ja bereits auf ihrem Dampfer den Wanst voll und konsumieren außer ein paar hässlichen Magneten, einem Dosenbier und ein paar Kugeln Eis nicht viel, und Hans-Werners Lieblingsrechtfertigung „Aber die leben doch davon!!!11!!!111“ gilt einfach nicht.

Bei Life of Brian müsste er jetzt 100x “Tourism kills our land” an die Kaimauer schreiben.

Eine kurze Reise in die Zukunft, in der der Post über La Palma bereits fertig ist: Darin ist zu lesen, dass wir „aufgrund doch nicht ganz ausgereifter Reiseplanung“ via Teneriffa Süd zurückreisen mussten und daher dort nochmal einen Tag Aufenthalt hatten – darüber schreibe ich jetzt. Das ergibt doch alles keinen Sinn, selbst wenn der Post schon fertig wäre, hättest du ihn ja noch nicht gelesen, wenn du chronologisch vorgehst? Zeitreisen ergeben einfach nie Sinn und nerven. Immer.

Für die einen liegt ein Besuch einer Stadt wie Minsk weit außerhalb der Komfortzone, bei mir ist es „Playa de las Américas“, dem Ground Zero des kanarischen Massentourismus.

Baz Luhrmann stellte bereits 1997 fest: „Do one thing every day that scares you“ und so verließen wir den Flughafen Teneriffa Süd, um bei CiCar das letzte Auto für diesen Trip abzuholen. Bunte Einweiser-Männchen, gekleidet in den Farben ihres jeweiligen Reiseanbieters, sortierten routiniert die ankommenden, teils stark verstörten, teils stark alkoholisierten Gäste in die wartenden Busse der Veranstalter, allen voran TUI.

Tuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiui

Die nur 17 km lange Autobahnstrecke vom Flughafen TFS nach Playa de las Américas ist zugepflastert mit Werbung, u. a. für den „Loro Parque Animal Embassy“. Da werden neben anderen Tieren vier Orcas (!!!!) zur Belustigung der Massen gequält – naja, im Urlaub ist das ja nicht so schlimm. Ein anderes Schild wies auf ein authentisches koreanisches Restaurant hin, in dem ich dann noch den schlechtesten Bibimbap der Insel aß. Ach, Christian! Die meisten der Werbeschilder sind auf Englisch oder Deutsch. Spanisch ist weniger geläufig in diesem Teil der Insel.

Playa de las Américas besteht hauptsächlich aus Hotels, Strand, Hotels, Autos und Hotels. Alles ist zugeparkt und das Verkehrschaos und riesige Asphaltflächen sorgen dafür, dass es noch kuscheliger wärmer ist als es eh schon sein sollte.

Im Meer war es dafür angenehm und am Strand viel weniger voll als ich angenommen hatte. Nach einem langen Strandtag (ich glaube, es war fast eine Stunde!) wurde es Zeit, zu genanntem Koreaner essen zu gehen und anschließend wieder am Flughafen einzuchecken – dort war bereits am Morgen bei unserer Ankunft alles überfüllt gewesen, aber jetzt waren gefühlt die dreifache Menge an Touristen da, für die das Ding ausgelegt war. Wer Platzangst, Menschenangst oder Camp-David-Angst hat, sollte einen weiten Bogen um TFS machen. Einen schrecklicheren Flughafen habe ich noch nie erlebt und ich war bereits in Paris-Charles de Gaulle (da habe ich mal einen Anschluss erwischen müssen und schrie in Panik Flughafenmitarbeitende an, wie ich denn nach 2D, also „Two-D“ kommen würde. Man blickte ratlos zurück, erst als ich auf „Deux-D“ wechselte, konnte man mir den Weg weisen. Manchmal stimmen die Klischees.)

Der Flug ging aber nach Frankfurt – da wollen wir ja jetzt eigentlich noch gar nicht hin, denn eine Insel fehlt noch. La Palma, spulen wir doch wieder eine Woche zurück. Soon in this Blog.

Das gesamte deutsche Snow Polo Team saß mit uns im Flieger! Vielleicht trainieren die im Sommer auf Sand für die Winterspiele 2024 in Cortina d’Ampezzo?

---

Lyrics: Chicane – Far from the madding crowds

90er Electro-Trance-Ambient-Disco-Stampf-Beats, aber in der verlinkten Fassung als 2024er-Symphonic Variante. Lyrics gibt’s keine, weils keine gibt und außerdem ist es der Album Titel und kein spezifisches Lied. Das erlauben die Statuten des Bibimblogs auch, soweit ich weiß.

Just announced from Graphic Mundi, wherein Yazan Al-Saadi's dispatches are illustrated by an impressive lineup of comix-makers including one short illustrated by me, originally for the now sadly defunct The Nib. Titled Cairo Under the Crackdown, here's an excerpt.

#work #comix

You know you're stressed when all your rules concerning carb intake are out the window.

Good morning.

#journal

The Law of Attraction

The Law of Attraction is the ability to attract into our lives whatever we are focusing on; it is the thought that equals manifestation; it is the will that manifests our reality; it is the cause that brings forth the effect; As within, so is without; what we cause our thoughts manifests whatever we have concentrated on as the effect; there is a cause and an effect to the Law of Attraction;

The Law of Attraction requires one to have faith and willpower; the Law of Attraction requires awareness and comprehension; to utilize the Law of Attraction, let us look at Matthew 7:7-8:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you; for everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened”

This biblical verse is the appropriate Law of Attraction for the benefit of all of us; it requires us to have upright, sexual behavior for this purpose; one must be chaste, humble, temperant, charitable, kind, diligent, patient, benign, and god-fearing; the forces of Nature will obey those who have all of these fruits of goodness;

Be wary of those who morally fail to take advantage of this biblical verse and are lustful, prideful, gluttonous, greedy, jealous, lazy, angry (wrathful), evil, and slanderous, the forces of Nature will never obey; these are the words of the Elohim; the Elohim (or the forces of Nature) will never obey those who are wicked, even if the Elohim (or the forces of Nature) are threatened to be cast down from their places into the Abyss by these wicked people; these blasphemous people are indeed sorcerers and demons; if this is you, be morally prepared to pay off your debts with true penance and return to your Innermost with repentance before you are rejected and punished beyond measure;

To utilize the biblical verse from above, we will do the following: ask, and you shall receive; seek, and you will find; knock on the door, and the door will be opened;

You can ask anything you want in your life; you can ask for wisdom like King Solomon once did (1 Kings 3:7-9); you can ask, “I would like to have wisdom according to your word and will, (name of Innermost)”, and you can be granted wisdom provided that you have an upright behavior; you can also ask to receive your spouse by the following: “I would like to see (or receive) my (Elohim-given) spouse”; you can utilize a simple dialogue for asking anything in your life by the following: “I would like to (ask anything you want)”; you can seek for anything in your life with faith, and you will find the thing that you are looking for; you can knock any door that you want to enter, and the door will be opened to you;

The sorcerers and demons argue and complain, all of which are demonic and useless; they fail to properly use the biblical verse from above; they utilize their demands with their black arts as a cause to manifest anything they desire as the effect, even it is by force or fits of violence or anger; the one who utilize these forbidden arts only achieve nothing, but also return with disastrous results which accrue more debit instead of credit; for the one who truly wishes to embark on the narrow path, he must never be psychologically identified with these black arts; he who falls for identification of the black arts is under the obsessive influence of the sorcerers; only comprehension and awareness of the biblical verse can break the psychological influence of the black arts;

Never be dismayed nor dejected if the results you wished to have, utilized from the biblical verse, fail to happen imminently; keep asking, and it shall be given to you; keep seeking, and you will find it; keep knocking on the door, and the door will be opened; never give up; have faith; continue until you achieve whatever you want to have as one constantly prays; you will achieve results, utilizing the appropriate use of the Law of Attraction.

Congratulations Pixar, you deserve it!

Here you can find my review of the movie.

To the news at X.

#movienews #pixar #insideout2

Life happens fast It hits hard, crushes us So sometimes you've gotta take a step back

This memo That message Those bills Do they need to be dealt with now? Or will they still be there?

It doesn't feel like it The constant pressure yells “DO IT NOW!” “THIS IS IMPORTANT!”

But you know what?

You are important So if you need a break Take one Because all of that life

It can wait

#Poetry #Life #SelfCare #LifeAdvice #YouAreImportant #Stress

Komt Nog ballade

Daar zat ik weer thuis, ziekelijk, minnetjes, herstellende van een financieel infarct het stond er slecht voor daar staande bij de schappen in de enorm geweldig markt omdat ik moest maar niet kon kiezen tussen de ingeroosterde of de bitter zoute pinda weer zat ik vast in het druistige rumoer, de chaos van de motorieke agenda er waren in mijn leven prangende zaken aanwezig en dringende afwezig met dat vervaarlijk meanderend gevaar was ik ieder voortwoekerend etmaal bezig ik had echt zoveel liever iets veelbetekenends willen kwakken op mijn weblog, maar dat moet dus nog

Natuurlijk had ik dit betere toetswerk liever meteen gedaan maar de afgelopen weken teisterde het noodlot mijn bestaan geen eenvoudig noodlottig voorval maar een noodlottig setje voor meerdere keren en juist toen ik er aan toe was om de nodige betekenis in mijn werk te integreren moest ik me opeens met alle mogelijk beschikbare middelen verweren tegen tientallen uitgehongerde en daarom levensgevaarlijke Mastur Beren tot aan dat ene moment konden wij, de beren en ik, elkander in dit huis prima gedogen daarom kon ik het amper geloven al zag ik ze daar zo vuurspuwend staan en dat met eigen ogen het had het er dan alle schijn van maar het was dus zeker geen bedrog, in ieder geval, vooralsnog

Ik zou eerder beginnen met het uitwerken van mijn volgende literaire meesterwerk maar struikelde over de eerste druk van mijn nooit eerder uitgegeven verzameld werk en kon niet voorkomen dat ik met m'n voorhoofd de mega deel transporter in druk en daarom dus voor ik echt kon beginnen aan dat met nodige betekenis gevulde stuk werd ik per direct vliegensvlug getransporteerd naar de Zuid Smægmåånse Rimboe en daar stond ik mond om snavel met een schuimbekkende van paringsdriften bezeten e-moe deze liep vastberaden om de daad met iets of iemand te doen op hoge poten naar me toe in paniek rende ik een kant op en kwam terecht in een grote groep e-moes allemaal even bezeten om heet te daten alle belangrijke zaken waarover ik e-pistels wou tiptoetsen was ik meteen vergeten met die inmiddels op hol geslagen kudde boltsige elektronische loopvogels in mijn zog kwam ik aan zinvol toetsen weer niet toe, vooralsnog

Op een zeker punt op een rotsvaste plek in onzekere tijden kwam ik even tot rust alle dreigende grommende levensgevaarlijke onruststokende Synaps Tijgers in slaap gesust geen vreemde mogendheid zou mij daar in het sociaal gehuurde hier en nu kunnen bezetten niks gemeens of wellustigs op aard zou mij het schrijven van een met betekenis gevuld stukje beletten maar net op dat weldadige moment kwam er een de grote vloed opzetten die brak door alle dijken, overstroomde alle kanalen en was te zien op de meeste netten en ik moest noodgedwongen mijn haard ontvluchten op de rug van een Über Pijlstaartrog Krijg je dat ook nog!

Het lijkt er op dat de hele wereld wil voorkomen dat ik mijn stukje vol betekenis schrijf ik heb zo het idee dat ze veel liever willen dat ik 24 7 met hun de hartstochtelijke liefde bedrijf vaker wel dan niet kom ik thuis, ga hangen op de bank, en net voor ik kom bij de zinnen valt er weer zo'n engel uit de lucht helemaal van buiten mijn zinnen omdat ze mij moet beminnen het is niet dat ik daar iets op tegen heb, ik heb juist alle begrip voor zo'n geval ik snap het helemaal, er is op deze plek, op dit tijdstip, in dit licht nou eenmaal geen beter paard op stal maar ik moet een keer betekenis toevoegen aan mijn creatief schrijf en blijf niet te lang plakken werk een daad stellen, laten zien dat ik er voor sta, bankjes in, een spits met timer zetten op mijn kerk ja, ik moet toch ook een keer ergens mijn stempel op zetten, lijkt mij logisch toch?! Hopelijk komt het later nog ...

My god, the raw power in the regular model S was like crack. I had four other people in the car screaming as I got to whip around back country roads, and I genuinely think I fell in love. God, I want to try the plaid – let alone buy one. Test drives fuckin work.

I lay the important documents across the bed. An autopsy table inviting softness. Potential futures tagged and labelled.

 Passport. Bank ID. Personal Number. National ID. EU Residence Permit.

 Muscle. Marrow. Bone.

I self-diagnose. I am suffering from a disease of chronic disappearances. Lived in cracks.

Some part of me fights to stay aware of a life before Sofie's Mountain.

In journals I try to describe the feeling of two selves parting as sediment layers in a soil test do. The settling of indistinct dirt brown acquiring character. The gradations appearing first as bands of light, dark.

Coarse, fine.

Like tea leaves. Like geomancy.

All lived material with no metaphor or meaning.

▽ | #journal #comment

I'm sure I will regret this 11:00pm coffee, but I need to push to get this chapter in the can.

It's true what they say, the last 10% of any project is always the hardest. No idea who “they” are, but I'm pretty sure it's a thing.

#journal #work #comix #tsg #resistdystopia

“Non e' tempo per noi” a song by Luciano Ligabue translated by Jonathan Gunnell Cannon

No Room in the Inn

Ligabue's “It's Not Our Time” is one of his first songs I fell in love with. As a missionary in Italy, I believed the Mormon church should be for everyone. How else could it save everyone? As a young man in Wisconsin, I believed that if our congregation wasn't a place everyone felt like they could belong—at least everyone who wanted to belong—then we needed to repent and make it a place where everyone felt welcome and appreciated. No one should feel pushed away because they didn't look or dress right, or because they were socially atypical. I grew my hair long so I wouldn't look standard Mormon—and because I liked it. I grew a beard for the same reason. My bishop chided me once that I was following the trend. I replied that I wasn't looking business standard—a rather direct retaliation, as he was a businessman and conscientiously business standard.

I talked with my peers about creating a welcoming and accepting environment. I made friends as widely as I could, especially with the interesting Mormons on the fringes. It was never a problem for me to fit well enough with the main group—anyplace.

After years of working toward more inclusive Mormonism in Wisconsin, Ohio, and North Carolina, I learned I hadn't been reaching far enough. We needed to accept the LGBTQ+ community among us. I needed to accept and support them. We needed to make women full members, not subservient members always under the male priesthood. We needed to lead the world in creating Zion, where there are no rich or poor, where anyone seeking peace is welcome, and where we are no respecters of persons.

When I watched as LDS Church leaders made passionate but guardedly careful calls to welcome refugees at our borders, as children were being torn from their parents and locked in concentration camps, I couldn't take any more. Mormonism was not big enough for everyone. I'm not either, but I'm trying.

This song is for all the people I know and love who don't fit in because of who you are. Because of birth or because of choice, it doesn't matter. I want you in my Zion.

Watching the meaning

I watched a video from a concert where Ligabue sang “Non e' tempo per noi.” Projected in the background were these words:

Article 3 All citizens shall have equal social dignity and shall be equal before the law, without distinction of gender, race, language, religion, political opinion, personal and social conditions. It shall be the duty of the Republic to remove those obstacles of an economic or social nature which constrain the freedom and equality of citizens, thereby impeding the full development of the human person and the effective participation of all workers in the political, economic and social organization of the country.

I wondered where they came from. Of course they were in Italian, but it didn't take much of an internet search to find the Italian Constitution, written in 1947. In my youthful ignorance (I was only 45), I hadn't dreamed such a progressive document could have been written before the late 20th century. Ligabue viewed his own song as a reproof for a nation that was failing to live up to its own ideals of inclusion and equality.

No wonder this song spoke so strongly to me. It's not because I've been a reviled outsider, ever. It's because Liga was singing my frustration, reaching out to all of those rejected by his world. Crying at the failure of the ideals he believed in and sought as a child. Ideals he was probably taught as Italian ideals that the entire nation prized. Ideals that were never met, and might never be.

No, This Time's Not for Us

(My translation, here. The original and a more literal translation at the end. My recording is on its way.) Now's the only life that they'll give: Don't try to ask for a refund—if you like it or not. And the calendar keeps asking and asking If you're getting enough, Had enough? If I had a dime each time I made a mistake My golden years would be filled with gold.

Streets are way too narrow and straight For any hope to change lanes, or just stretch out on the road, You do what you're told and get by, Sometimes you pray for a reason, Give a reason. At times you hear a voice that asks, “Is this all there is?” The answer always echoes back, yes!

No this time's not for us, We who sleepwalk through our lives, We have dreams, but you know They're too big and beautiful, Pretty or ugly we have faces, Always, ever only one. No this time's not for us, Could be our time will never come.

One fine day if you're passing by Let someone love you then quickly forget about me, It's already a good day to love Another new someone, A new someone. They make sure we know we're throwing our lives away, But we've no problem picking up trash.

No this time's not for us, We who never measure up, Out of fashion, out of place, We know they wish we'd just shut up. We have mother's who love us, Knowing we will never fit. No this time's not for us, It's not our time, this isn't it.

No this time's not for us, We who never dress like you, We don't laugh, we don't cry, We don't love the way you do. Call us stubborn or naive, For sure too dumb to just belong. No this time's not for us, Could be our time will never come.

No this time's not for us, We who sleepwalk through our lives, We have dreams, but you know They're too big and beautiful, Pretty or ugly we have faces, Always, ever only one. No this time's not for us, Could be our time will never come.

Constitutional Thoughts

I was also struck by article 2 of the Italian Constitution. Compared to our constitution written by some admirable rich people who didn't like being subservient rich people, so they didn't want kings (but were ok with enslaving people), this struck me as a document written by more people, for more people. They had fought the tyranny of fascism (yes, Italy was split under Mussolini, with many Italians fighting against the fascists both before and during WWII), and now had a chance to try to make a government where people would never again be persecuted for accidents of birth or just choosing to live in a different way.

Article 2 The Republic shall recognize and protect the inviolable rights of the person, both as an individual and in the social groups where human personality is expressed. The Republic expects that the fundamental duties of political, economic and social solidarity be fulfilled.

I want this. Government for people. A nation for people. A world for people. Recognizing that groups and institutions are part of what defines us and part of how we express ourselves. Recognizing that we have duties to one another, but where institutions are for us. Not a world where people serve hierarchies that enrich a few and oppress or contain the unfortunate—or fortunate—billions. Not a world where money is free speech so poverty is silence. I truly believed the American Constitution was a world changing document of freedom and human rights. Maybe it was. Maybe it can be, again. But seeing the greatness of its offspring, documents written nearly two centuries later, I hope we can build on what we were given, clinging to its strengths, not its defects.

Enough of my stories and thoughts. Here is the original and my translations:

Non e' tempo per noi

It's Not Our Time No, This Time's Not for Us by Luciano Ligabue, translations by Jonathan Gunnell Cannon

Ci han concesso solo una vita: We're given one life, Now's the only life that they'll give: soddisfatti o no qua non rimborsano mai satisfied or not—No refunds here, ever— Don't try to ask for a refund—if you like it or not. e calendari a chiederci se And the calendar asks us And the calendar keeps asking and asking stiamo prendendo abbastanza, if we are getting enough, If you're getting enough, abbastanza enough Had enough? se per ogni sbaglio avessi mille lire If for every mistake I had a dollar, If I had a dime each time I made a mistake che vecchiaia che passerei What an old age I would have. My golden years would be filled with gold.

Strade troppo strette e diritte Streets too straight and narrow Streets are way to narrow and straight per chi vuol cambiar rotta oppure sdraiarsi un po’ For anyone to change tracks or stretch out a bit. for any hope to change lanes, or just stretch out on the road. che andare va bene, però, Just going along is fine, You do what you're told and get by, a volte serve un motivo, But sometimes you need a reason, Sometimes you pray for a reason, un motivo A reason. Give a reason. Certi giorni ci chiediamo: “È tutto qui?” Some days you ask: “Is this it?” At times you hear a voice that asks, “Is this all there is? e la risposta è sempre sì! And the answer is always yes! The answer always echoes back, yes!

Non è tempo per noi It’s not our time, No this time's not for us, che non ci svegliamo mai We who never wake up. We who sleepwalk through our lives. abbiam sogni però We have dreams, you know, We have dreams, but you know, troppo grandi e belli sai But they are too big and beautiful. They're too big and beautiful. belli o brutti abbiam facce Beautiful or ugly we have faces, Pretty or ugly we have faces, che però non cambian mai But they never change. Always, ever only one. non è tempo per noi It's not our time **No, this time's not for us, e forse non lo sarà mai And maybe it never will be. Could be our time will never come.

Se un bel giorno passi di qua If one fine day you pass by here, One fine day if you're passing by lasciati amare e poi scordati svelta di me Let yourself be loved and then quickly forget me. Let someone love you then quickly forget about me. che quel giorno è già buono per That day's already good It's already a good day to love amare qualchedunaltro for loving someone else, Another new someone, qualche altro Someone else. A new someone. Dicono che noi ci stiamo buttando via They say we are throwing ourselves away, They make sure we know we're throwing our lives away, ma siam bravi a raccoglierci But we're good at picking ourselves up. But we've no problem picking up trash.

Non è tempo per noi It's not our time, No this time's not for us, che non ci adeguiamo mai We who never measure up— We who never measure up, fuori moda, fuori posto Out of fashion, out of place, Out of fashion, out of place, insomma sempre fuori, dai In short always out. We know they wish we'd just shut up. abbiam donne pazienti, We have patient women We have mother's who love us, rassegnate ai nostri guai Resigned to our troubles. Knowing we will never fit. non è tempo per noi It's not our time No, this time's not for us, e forse non lo sarà mai And maybe it never will be. It's not our time, this isn't it.

Non è tempo per noi It's not our time No this time's not for us, che non vestiamo come voi We who don't dress like you. We who never dress like you. non ridiamo, non piangiamo, We don't laugh, we don't cry, We don't laugh, we don't cry, non amiamo come voi We don't love like you. We don't love the way you do. forse ingenui o testardi Maybe we are naive or stubborn, Call us stubborn or naive, poco furbi, casomai Unsophisticated, for sure. For sure too dumb to just belong. non è tempo per noi It's not our time No, this time's not for us, e forse non lo sarà mai. And maybe it never will be. Could be our time will never come.

…one feels that at times, quite frequently in fact. However, I think it’s more akin to zen meditation or stoic practice, letting go of winning, letting go of that good hand, accepting defeat, being one with the whims of the universe. Being one with the flow.

If there was a game that was a metaphor for existence, then mahjong is it.

Early Awareness

Growing up in the west I had never really heard of or thought about mahjong beyond “mahjong solitaire”… that tile matching game some PC’s came with for free. It wasn’t until the Saki anime aired back in Spring 2009 that I understood the existence of the actual game of mahjong.

While Saki was amusing, I felt like I was missing out more enjoyment of the show by not understanding the game or how to play. Thus, my journey into learning to play begun…

I seem to recall long hours pouring over large .pdf sheets of rules, yaku, and instructions for playing on tenhou.net that someone on 4chan’s anime board had compiled in the wake of Saki airing. At the time I grasped a basic sense of the rules, enough to win some games and feel satisfied that I “understood” the game (a far cry from the truth).

After that initial phase I didn’t go much deeper. I did, however, enjoy playing on the network mahjong machines in arcades in Japan while on holiday… you could get a good 30-45 minutes of game time from a single coin where every other game in the arcade would last a few minutes, if that. 😅

I played occasionally on Tenhou, on and off over the years, but never really in much depth (or with any great deal of success). The next real milestone for me was in Final Fantasy XIV. A few years back when the hype got the better of me and I returned to the game (after vowing never again since the 1.0 disaster). Obviously unlocking the gold saucer minigame arcade was a priority, and one of the games there was mahjong.

FFXIV – “Mahjong Master”

As a client, FFXIV mahjong is a bit more interesting, you can see your opponents and chat to them, and given the quantity of people playing mahjong there is relatively small… you get to know your regular opponents. There’s a community (multiple discord communities in fact). Beyond that, there’s a goal, a title you can display on your character, the coveted “Mahjong Master”, one of the rarest titles in the entire game.

How hard could it be, right? I mean I already knew how to play…

…

…

…2 full years later…

“Mahjong causes great damage to the human spirit without a single benefit.”

My word that was a struggle. For several reasons:

1. The small quantity of players playing the game in FFXIV means that it can take hours to find a game depending on time of day, and some days no games at all.

2. The ranking system gets progressively harder as you go higher up, to the extent than when you almost reach the 2000 rating required for “Mahjong Master”, you can lose rating by finishing 2nd, 3rd, or 4th in a game. Nightmare fuel compared to all other mahjong ranking systems where at least finishing 1st or 2nd usually guarantees positive progress.

3. You actually need to be good to win enough games on average that your rank goes up

Shout out to the regulars I ended up playing with for that time, particularly the elusive and mostly silent Phoenix Silver, probably the best player on the EU data centre, as well as all those in the Mahjong of Light discord, the regular meetups organised by Ziggy, tournaments organised by RPGReki, the in-game cross world linkshell invites, and those that I probably annoyed by repeatedly winning against (sorry Joro Gumo if you’re out there somewhere!).

Anyway to actually get there, I had to invest time actually learning riichi mahjong theory. “Riichi Book 1” is essentially the bible for English speaking people wishing to learn the basics how to play well. It is by no means anything more than a beginner level book, but by reading this alone, and actually absorbing all it has to offer, you can easily reach Mahjong Master in FFXIV. To go beyond that however is a different story…

Beyond FFXIV

By this point I was clearly hooked by the game. The depth of strategy was endless, after 2 years of reading various books, and hundreds, perhaps even thousands of hours of practice… despite my title in FFXIV, I was still very much a beginner.

I was very aware that ultimately this is a game that requires a certain mental fortitude. You are essentially playing something where at best you have little more than 25% chance of winning, and little less than 25% chance of coming last. The effect of skill is there, but it is ultimately dominated by chance. The fortitude required to play safe, to fold good hands a majority of times, to avoid dealing in, to accept your losses, to even accept even wild loss streaks as a statistical likelihood at some point. It is a game of stoic zen practice, a game that would challenge even the great Marcus Aurelius.

“You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”

“Be like the cliff against which the waves continually break; but it stands firm and tames the fury of the water around it.”

― Marcus Aurelius

Alas, one cannot resign oneself entirely to fate, else in mahjong, that is to accept a 1st place rate of slightly less than 25%, and a last place rate of slightly more than 25%. A long losing streak does not happen entirely in a vacuum, entirely by chance, your actions were ultimately some input to tipping the balance towards that outcome. One must still introspect, and learn, and grow.

I knew that I was still a beginner. In order to grow myself I had to study more and get more games. This brought me out of FFXIV and onto other clients. I spent some time back in Tenhou, and a new flashy gacha mobile mahjong game: Mahjong Soul. The standard of play in these clients is generally higher, and thus more of a challenge, the ranking systems essentially go all the way up to Japanese Pro level.

How could I get there? A lot more time, practice, reading, reviewing my own games, and following a structured learning approach:– The Hopeless Girl on the Path of Houou has been an invaluable resource, methodical, and complete with electronic training tools. Ultimately, however, there is a very limited amount of intermediate to advanced level strategy guides translated into English (and most of it unofficial translations of non-English content), thus one ends up getting things like this from Amazon japan…

As of today, I’m still very much a beginner on the path: 2 dan on Tenhou, and Expert 2 in Mahjong Soul… a long way to go (though I am still proud of that Mahjong Master title, one of 0.3% of players 😂).

IRL Games

Other than online play, once hooked on the game I also started looking into where to play IRL. Suffice to say finding other players in the UK for irl games is somewhat of a challenge, the total pool of players is even smaller than the FFXIV community of players. However, they do exist! There are discord servers, facebook groups, and meetup.com arrangements, and much to my surprise, an official european mahjong tournament ranking system.

Simultaneously to the learning above, I set about trying to get some irl games. First step: get a set of tiles and a mat to practice with at home. On a computer everything is done for you, irl you need to know how to shuffle, build the wall, score hands (I’m not even going to go into the complexity of that here), know when you’ve won, and not make mistakes.

Ironically, the first time I found to play irl was actually at an FFXIV event: FFXIV London Fanfest 2023, a small group of people (by small I mean 4 people total) from the FFXIV mahjong community managed to get together for a single game in a library near Kings Cross station. My first irl experience, and I ended up in last place with negative points… as to be expected. 😅

After that I needed to figure out how to attend one of these EMA tournaments. Luckily, there was one coming up near me, and more importantly, the tournament community seems pretty welcoming to newcomers, even those that struggle with scoring hands!

Overall, a great experience, playing with other players of a high level, irl, in a welcoming environment for newcomers, what more could one ask for. I even didn’t do too bad, top half and positive points overall!

Other than that I’ve actually found some other avenues for playing irl… turns out some people at my workplace play mahjong (though with Hong Kong rules), so we’ve had a few games there. While enjoyable, there’s not really much strategy to Hong Kong rules mahjong, there’s no real defence, just go as quick as you can for any hand that gets the minimum score, and everything is pretty much up to chance. I feel like it’s probably an uphill battle to convince them to want to switch to riichi rules. 😅

WROTL – World Riichi Online Team League

Finally, and the real reason I wanted to write this blog post, we come to “wrotl”. The WRC (organisers of the biggest international riichi tournament) recently organised a tournament between Japanese professional players and international amateurs. This was a chance I couldn’t miss, the ability to play against serious professional players, some of the best in the world. Like if someone said “hey, do you want to play a few football games with Ronaldo and Messi?”, who could resist?

So yeah I’m in that, for the next few months, every saturday on ron2.jp (an alternative Tenhou based client), playing professional players worldwide.

…and so far… I’m not totally embarassing myself! 😂 Lamp- currently 570 out of 854 total players. If I can finish in positive territory then I’ll be happy. But even without that, just playing against this level of player is a really great way to learn and improve. I’ve already gone up 1 dan level in Tenhou since the start of this.

I might post an update here once it finishes, but judging by my overall posting activity, it’s unlikely right? Just check on twitter if you need to.

Despite all of the above, I’m still a beginner

I have a huge backlog of study material to get through, I’m definitely still a beginner.

Mahjong strategy has a depth I’ve not encountered anywhere else, in all likelihood I will be a beginner forever. There is always more to learn.

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few” ― Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice

#blogging #mahjong #ffxiv #finalfantasyxiv #tenhou

How To Bless The Food

These are the words of the Elohim:

We must bless our food and be thankful for what our Innermost is providing to us;

Your Innermost must be thanked and remembered;

For Gnostic Initiates who are from native Christianity, just as I (Juan Mirieth Auriel) am, we must say Grace;

Grace, in Christianity, is the blessing of the food;

The Elohim has commanded me (for native Christians) to say the following:

“Bless us, O Lord, and these your gifts, which we are about to receive from your goodness through Christ our Lord; Amen”;

That is all;

For those whose native religion is outside of Christianity, i recommend the Gnostic Book of Prayer by Surekha Minati Keerthana (https://glorian.org/books/a-gnostic-prayer-book); it has all the graces, prayers, mantras, and many spiritual works; you can also ask your Innermost (Yah-Hovah Elohim, Allah, et cetera) about Grace, and the Innermost will tell you which prayer to use;

That is all.

Prayers, etc.: • 05:00 – Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel • 06:00 – the Angelus • 06:30 – The Glorious Mysteries of the Holy Rosary. Followed by The Memorare • 06:50 – A Major Diocese Was Granted A TLM Extension, But With A Diabolical Catch – Return to Tradition • 07:55 – Thought for today from Archbishop Lefebvre: We have a very hard time withdrawing our minds from things temporal, material, sensible, to raise ourselves to things spiritual... If God took the trouble to give us a spirit like to His, normally, naturally, our soul would be turned toward God from our earliest childhood. The thought of God ought to be absolutely natural for us. • 10:15 – Meditation and Prayer for Wednesday of this Ninth Week after Pentecost from The Light of The World. • 12:00 – the Angelus • 15:50 – Today's Daily Meditation found in Benedictus Magazine. • 18:00 – the Angelus • 19:15 – Fr. Chad Rippberger's Prayer of Command to protect my family, my sons, my daughter and her family, my granddaughters and their families, my great grandchildren, and everyone for whom I have responsibility from any demonic activity.

Health Metrics: • bw= 225.50 lbs. • bp= 148/80 (68)

Diet: • 06:00 – ½ pb&j sandwich, 1 banana • 08:05 – applesauce and cottage cheese • 09:45 – snack on fig newtons • 11:45 – fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy • 13:40 – snack on fig newtons • 15:00 – tangerine

Chores, etc.: • 05:00 – listen to local news talk radio • 06:15 – monitored bank accounts activity • 07:25 – Is Biden Dead? | Guest: Alex Jones – The Liz Wheeler Show, Ep 2 • 08:15 – The REAL Reason Biden Is Out; Plus, Liz Is Back and Kamala Is Evil – The Liz Wheeler Show, Ep 1 • 09:20 – following news reports on RAV • 11:00 – tuned into the Atlanta Braves Pregame Show ahead of their MLB Game vs the Cincinnati Reds, the 1st game of a double-header • 14:15 – woke from an afternoon nap to tune into a Minor League Game, Indianapolis Indians vs the Iowa Cubs, AAA Ball • 14:50 – tuned into the LA Angels vs Seattle Mariners Game, now in the 1st inning • 16:00 – local news and weather • 17:00 – switching over to RAV coverage of President Trump's Rally in NC • 18:30 – switched back to baseball, Tigers vs Guardians

Chess: • 12:30 – moved in all pending CC games

posted Wednesday, 2024-07-24 ~19:30 #DLJUL2024

Teenagers

Let us comprehend the biblical verse from 1 Corinthians 13:11:

“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things”;

There we see the two common words: child and man; whenever i, Juan Mirieth Auriel, say man, i also include woman as well; both man and woman are adults; what is rare is the word: teenager;

Simply put, a teenager is someone who is aged within teen years; a child who is between 10 and 20 years old is already a teenager, yet the word teenager is rare;

It is clear that one begins life as a child in the morning, the child transitions into an adult before the afternoon, and an adult enters decrepitude in the evening (that is before death); it is the very riddle behind Oedipus Rex;

The only thing i mentioned before the afternoon is the child transitions into a man; a teenager is an invented word, placed between child and adult; it is used to prolong the childhood of a newly initiated adult;

It is sex that governs the transition and growth of a child into an adult; it is this initiation that once puberty of a child begins, the child enters into adulthood, never teenage; puberty is the initial development of the sexual organs and the development of sexual organs lasts for seven years; it is advisable to never partake the Arcanum during the development of the sexual organs; it is only advisable to teach the newly initiates to transmute their sexual energy through chastity; after the seven years of complete sexual development can man and woman do the Arcanum, which both must be at least 21 years old;

The period of the seven-year sexual development is the Venusian period; it begins at age 14, the typical age for puberty; newly initiates of the Venusian period can find their love and develop their proper relationship;

It is also clear that puberty is the initiation of a child into an adult; in the Jewish religion, it is common to see bar mitzvah (from a boy to a man) and bat mitzvah (from a girl into a woman), which are symbolic; bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah are the initiation of children into adulthood;

Therefore, the word teenage is rare; a teenager is an invented word; a teenager is simply someone who is between 10 and 20 years old; that is all.