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The result of my Bellydance photo efforts. 

ARRG! and Other Frustrating Things.

The Pirate Bay. It's a gift to the lonely, to the poor, to the stingy, to the 99% and to those of us who live outside the US and can't get any good tv-shows, or at least not anywhere close to up to date. Most shows airing here in the Netherlands are at least one and a half seasons behind. Some shows we can get only 6 months after original air dates, but they are only available om Film1, a channel that costs 15 euros extra per month. I for one, LOVE the Pirate Bay. It's my number one go to website if I end up home alone on a night without much of anything to do. 


Tonight I was supposed to go to Kickfit at the Gym with my roommate and another friend. Roommate isn't coming because she's staying in the Hague overnight with her boyfriend. Then, the friend cancelled. Therefore, I am no longer going to the gym. I've already been twice this week and am going again tomorrow. Tonight was more of a "gezelligheids" gym plan than a personal one. So, I try to make other plans. Naturally, they were doomed to fail. You see, when people cancel only a few hours before the planned meeting, there's usually very few people still available to make new plans with. 


So is the case today. I called around, everyone's already doing something. Makes sense; it's a thursday and it's weeky roleplay night for most of the boys. 


I hate people that cancel. Especially people that cancel without a legit excuse. Sure, sometimes things get in the way of plans, but usually people find out about these kinds of conflicts well ahead of time. It's even worse if people lie about the reason, or if they state no reason at all. Or if they just don't show up and then apologize for forgetting to cancel afterwards. 


What makes cancellations even worse... Court ordered ISP blockade of the Pirate Bay. Yes really. This lovely progressive, open-minded, liberal place I live in has somehow managed to do the unimaginable: Internet censorship. It's a bit backwards if you ask me. You see, in this country, it's not illegal to download for "home-use". It's only illegal to seed, that is, to spread the content beyond the "home". So where exactly does blocking the sites make any sense? And what are they trying to accomplish? Even some of the local artists are saying "I see downloading as a new movement in the way people express their appreciation, and you shouldn't be against new developments in the appreciation for music. Twitter, youtube, and downloading are important media in the music industry today, and we need to embrace them." They agree that back in the 70's the same amount of success would have translated into a hell of a lot more cash, but they're still getting plenty. 


Thing is, it's only Ziggo and XS4ALL that were ordered to block the Pirate Bay, so it's not everybody. Unfortunately, I really like my Ziggo and I hate that now I'm being forced to switch to a different ISP, because obviously that it what everyone is going to do now. 


I know I am, because I can't stand to imagine how many more nights of cancelled plans I'll have to spend on the couch, by myself, watching reruns of Will and Grace and Bring it On. 

The Green (Close To My) Heart

I visited the countryside where one of my best friends grew up with my best friends from all over the world when they visited. Here are some impressions along our walk. Thanks to Nemo for taking us to Woubrugge. 

Counting Losses, Counting Votes.

Got a letter from the local taxman today. I owe them almost 300 euro's for 2011, and have the same amount coming my way in a few months for 2012. Because I also had 2 pairs of jeans and my sneakers break last month, I have already had to invest in new sneakers and jeans as short skirts and stilettos won't get me through the winter so...

I am selling my guitar....

It's a Washburn N2, Nuno Bettencourt (best known as the lead gitarist in the rock band Extreme) special edition electric guitar. It's a pretty little thing to look at, and it's barely been used. I bought it about 7 years ago, but it's been played so little that it has absolutely no damage and still has the original strings on it. I keep it in a very sturdy hard case and I have a Peavey Transtube Series Rage 158 amp to go with it. 

If you or anyone you know is interested in buying it, let me know. It's worth somewhere around 8 to 900 dollars new, so make me a good offer. 

In similar news, on New Years Eve my bike was thrown in the canal by some drunken passers by. Normally it would sink, but because it landed on another bike, we could still see the back of it in the water and managed to pull it out. Lucky me that it still functions and I don't have to get a new one, but this one needs a few repairs and I'm not sure how to finance those. It's all relative though, because my father needs to get a butt load of repairs done on his car, and so does my sister. My sister's case is the worst, because the repairs are costing her at least half of the amount she paid for it in the first place, and she only got it 6 months ago.

I guess we should all just appreciate and enjoy the little things in life. 

On a different note, and presented as an ode to the old philosophers who wrote in dialogue: American politics. I was watching the news and realized that the preliminary elections are based on registrations with a party. To vote in the preliminaries, American citizens need to be registered as either republican or democrat. This registration allows them to vote for the representative that will run in the presidential election. This means, that in the case of one party only having one candidate in the running, as was the case (until recently, as I learned) with Obama, people can just register as the opposing party and vote for the worst candidate to ensure their own party a victory. 

Some people responded that only "morally backwards" people would do such a thing whereas my father agreed with me that it's potentially a very smart way to use the system to your advantage.  

Below my brief conversation with a few Dutch people, and one very intelligent and well informed American. 

Evi: Can anyone explain this to me? The republican candidate is being voted for by republicans only. People in America are registered as republican or democrat. But, their vote on the actual presidency does not have to be for the candidate representing the party they are registered for. So democrats can just register as republicans and vote now for the worst candidate to ensure an Obama win later

M: Guess so. But you don't have to be a democrate or republican to vote. You just vote for what candidate your party will nominate.

Evi: Yea, but you have to be a republican to vote in the selection of the candidate?

L: Wellicht, maar misschien doen "ze" dat niet omdat niet alle amerikanen cynische doortrapte klootzakken zonder scrupules zijn, en dat ze daarom toch nog het minimum van respect kunnen opbrengen voor de idealen van de democratie en fair play en voor de medeburgers met afwijkende politieke opvattingen? En al zou het systeem gecorrumpeerd zijn en dat een excuus zijn om zo te handelen, als je de corruptie erg vindt lijkt het mij nou niet de bedoeling om zelf er dan nog een schepje bovenop te doen. *tips hat*

H: Correct. You need to register as a democrat or republican and vote for a democrat or republican candidate during the preliminaries for the candidate you'd like to represent the democrat or republican party in the "final" election. But during the final election, you can vote for whoever you want.

Evi: So if they wanted to (as L points out, if they were indecent enough to go there), the democrats could rig the election by voting for the biggest tool...

H: I doubt any democrat would risk wasting their vote for a preliminary candidate on a republican, especially one wanting Obama to be re-elected. For one thing, Obama isn't popular enough anymore to be a shoe-in for the democrat candidate. So if they want Obama, they'll need to vote for Obama. But in terms of what people are actually capable of...yes, if someone were that desperate and that morally questionable, they could do it.

Evi: I thought Obama was the only candidate for the democrats this election. If that was the case, votes wouldn't be wasted. If not, makes sense that you vote for your own fave.

H:  Nope, Obama has 3 candidates running against him right now. Personally, I still think he's the best option, but like I said, unfortunately his popularity is significantly decreased.

Evi:  I think its best to keep the same candidate just so that progress isn't stalled or reversed. I think its unrealistic to expect huge results in a short time especially if theres no money to do much, reelecting obama is the only way to see any of his promises fulfilled in the long term, and health care reform just isn't a short term kind of operation.

H: I agree. But not a lot of people do. Also, one reason why Obama got elected in 2008 was just to keep Sarah Palin as far away from the White House.

Evi: That reason still seems valid enough for some of the republican hopefulls...

So, What do you think? I'd love to add more opinions to this conversation, and I'd really like to add some good analysis, but I'm not political theorist or expert. I'm not even American. I'll probably post more about these upcoming elections though until it's time to count the votes. In the mean time I'll count my losses and keep enjoying the little things. Like the Fieldwork Brunch coming up with my fellow master research anthropologists.