Annoyed
From ‘Finally, a virus got me.’ Scientist who fought Ebola and HIV reflects on facing death from COVID-19:
“Many people think COVID-19 kills 1% of patients, and the rest get away with some flulike symptoms. But the story gets more complicated. Many people will be left with chronic kidney and heart problems. Even their neural system is disrupted. There will be hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, possibly more, who will need treatments such as renal dialysis for the rest of their lives. The more we learn about the coronavirus, the more questions arise. We are learning while we are sailing. That’s why I get so annoyed by the many commentators on the sidelines who, without much insight, criticize the scientists and policymakers trying hard to get the epidemic under control.”
I envy virologist Peter Piot who only gets annoyed with people who are downplaying or outright denying the danger of Covid-19. Like the people who were protesting last weekend in Stuttgart, Berlin and elsewhere against the comparatively light measures that are now in place to stop the spread of the virus here in Germany. I try my best, but seeing behaviour like this makes me just angry.
Playlist Update - April 2020
Mir wurde die Pandemie 2020 ja als DAS Event der Videospielhistorie angepriesen. Als einmaliger Moment der Geschichte, in der all die ungezählten Stunden des Button-Mashings endlich die gesellschaftliche Wertschätzung erfahren würden, die sie eigentlich schon immer verdient hätten: Stay home, play games, safe lives.
Nun ja.
Diese Heldenrolle war dann leider doch anderen vorbehalten. Die Realität sah für mich etwas anders aus: Mit zwei kleinen Kindern, die noch — noch! — zu jung für Konsolenspiele sind, den durcheinandergewirbelter Jobs der Eltern und dem individuellen Klarkommen auf den Zustand der Welt. Viel Zeit für Spiele blieb jedenfalls nicht. Daher findet sich auf dem Review meiner Playlist für April 2020 eigentlich nur ein Game: Animal Crossing.
Animal Crossing
Stell dir vor, du buchst einen Urlaub auf einer verlassenen Insel. Angedreht wird dir das von einem geschäftstüchtigen Marderhund und seinen zwei Neffen. Auf der Insel angekommen, gilt es nach und nach das perfekte Dorf aufzubauen. Das ist Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Dieses Spiel hätte zu keinem besseren Zeitpunkt erscheinen können. Es bietet alles, was gerade fehlt:
- Urlaub auf einer paradiesischen Insel
- Soziale Interaktion mit Nachbarn und Besuchern
- Einkaufen ohne Maske
- Funktionierende Wirtschaft
Mehr Escapismus geht 2020 nicht.
Wie so oft mit Nintendos eigenen Titeln auf der Switch, lässt sich auch Animal Crossing wunderbar in kleinen Happen spielen. Wenn man im echten Leben zum Beispiel darauf wartet, dass die kleine Tochter einschläft, kann man rasch noch die virtuellen Blumen gießen, ein ausgebuddeltes Fossil zum analysieren in das inseleigene Museum bringen oder bei einem Nachbarn zum Plausch vorbeischauen.
Es mag etwas befremdlich klingen, aber der klare — fast schon eintönige — Rhythmus des Spiels und die Sicherheit, dass wirklich absolut NICHTS passieren kann, sind das Antidot für eine chaotische Welt. Auch wenn es nur für fünf Minuten zwischendurch ist.
Escaping into the woods
Humans are once again fighting with nature – and yet nature is also one of the best ways to escape from the endless stream of frontline news… I guess it is one of the great paradoxes of our species: Our biggest enemy is also our best friend.
Bon Appétit
From My Obsession With the Bon Appétit Cinematic Universe:
“Expressing my love for these videos and the extent to which they’ve become integral parts of my daily life to people who have no idea what I’m talking about is a complicated endeavor because it requires me to convince them that I’m as enamored with the recipes and techniques I pick up from each as I am by the stars who share them with me. It’s one thing to say, “I like this Bon Appétit writer Molly Baz’s recipes! They’re easy, reliable, and oh so satisfying. I’ve made her cauliflower carbonara twice!” That sort of commentary makes sense, as does the general concept of “celebrity chef.” But to take it a step or ten further and talk about Molly Baz as one cog in the deeply nuanced and complex Bon Appétit Cinematic Universe by sharing deranged commentary-cum-fanfiction like, “Molly and Alex have so much chemistry it makes me uncomfortable because she’s MARRIED, but it’s fine because they’re CUTE about it and Molly LOVES her husband so much,” complicates the pitch.”
I couldn’t relate more. I love the Bon Appetit videos, but it is really hard to put that obsession in words. Bobby Finger, however, does a great job here describing what makes this YouTube channel so much fun to watch.
Writing a blog. Again.
We’ve been here before.
I started my first blog during my time at university. At the tome it was exciting to be able to comment on whatever I found cool, to have interesting discussions or to simply use the endless virtual space to just collect stuff.
At some point I stopped publishing new posts. Life – and especially work – happened, and for a long time this did not include writing things on the internet, except maybe little status updates on Twitter.
But in the back of my mind I always had the urge to write again. Not only little tidbits (even though I enjoy that, too) but longer form posts. Every year or so I would think about “starting a blog again” – but never really commit to it.
This same urge and thought came back recently. But instead of procrastinating by spending endless hours searching for the right platform, designing a truly special theme or any of the other things I did that were not writing a blog, I just started.
So yes – the design is not yet perfect, there are probably quite a few bugs in the code and the categories are not yet figured out completely. Things will change around here in the future, I imagine. But it is a start. I am writing again and this is what counts for me right now.
We’ve been here before – and I am hoping that this time, we stay for a little while longer.