mllesatine

I'm still listening to "By the book". I mocked some of the content of this podcast before but it's the kind of thing where I had to learn to appreciate the self-imposed structure of their self-help experience.

I went to IKEA a few days ago and they have a new limited collection of vases and rugs and things (in super deep blue and pink) that I like very much. First time in a long time where I was really excited about my visit. It was in the middle of the week and super quiet. The store rooms and even the restaurant were very empty. Anyway I'm going back tomorrow to buy more rugs.

In less great news I tweaked my neck. That hasn't happened in a long time. I tried the usual "yoga pose" to relieve the tension but the left shoulder is still not where it's supposed to be and I can feel the bones "jumping" around when I move my left arm. The muscles of my upper back and shoulder hurt because they are not in the right place. But at least I can sleep laying on my back. It's gotten a bit better and I think I should just leave it alone and it might go back to the way it was before.

I voted today! The polling station was in a different school than before (which I always mistook for some kind of weather facility because there is a weather station thing in front of it) and totally empty when I got there. I was in and out in under 2 minutes. I saw a lot of people walking to and from the stations. Station 2 was across the road in a different school. Mine was an elementary school.

I watched the first episode of "American Gold - the legend of Bear Gulch" yesterday. It's about five brothers who bought old mining claims in Montana and are now trying to find the gold. For reality tv it's super low key, no musical stings, no dramatic breaks, zero fighting between the brothers. The brothers are all retired from working in mining operations around the world. I never had the feeling any of them were in danger even though the first epsiode involved explosions and crawling around in a half frozen mine entrance. I really like how competent they all appear. And I laughed when their first contractor who helped clearing a road was even older than the brothers. Also: people in Montana say "jaa" instead of "yes".

Also watching: Taskmaster (new season on the official youtube channel and the New Zealand version on not so official youtube channels) and "Submarine: Life under the Waves" (a new British tv series about a nuclear powered submarine - not as interesting as I had hoped).

I'm reading Wolfgang Otts "Haie und kleine Fische", supposedly a book about submarine warfare in WWII but I'm half-way in and the action takes place on a minesweeper. It has a lot more sex, blood and gore than I expected from a book from 1954. But maybe my expectations were colored by reading Buchheims "Das Boot" first which has very little death. In Otts book people die like flies and the pacing is very fast so people are introduced and die two pages later. And then their replacements on the boat also die. And if they don't die quickly their death and/or injuries are described with all the detail you could want. The effect that has on the main characters is never given any room.

It's about a group of four friends who decide to become officers in the Germany navy in 1940. The main character Teichmann is 17 and I think he has to become 18 before being allowed to go to an officer school? Right now he is in a hospital after being wounded badly. He was worried about losing a leg but the death of his comrades is already forgotten. When his friends visit him it's at least implied that they all act as if this is all normal when it really isn't.

It's not at all clear who these people are and what they mean to each other. We get a little insight into Teichmann but the other characters are all very replacable. But because it's so fast-paced and thrilling I'm having fun reading it.

There is a black-and-white movie from 1957 based on the book. The movie moves so quickly that it's not very enjoyable and I gave up after maybe 15 minutes. The main character looks like a 30-year-old which took me out. There might be some actual war footage being used in the movie (some wide shots of ships burning in the water) which feels really morbid.

Even though the book was supposedly a big hit (my library issue is the 12th issue) I can barely find anything about the author or the reception of the book. He is not named in "Deutsche Kulturgeschichte" (Schild/Siegfried) which has a few chapters on post war book publishing. They say that there weren't a lot of new books coming out after the war and the bestseller lists were mostly classic novels so a book like Otts might the exception not the rule.

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 I'm watching the second episode of "The North Water" and it's so dark I might as well be listening to the audiobook. What's the point of shrouding all the characters in darkness?