Dr. Filomena

staircase inside the St Augustine Lighthouse, photo by dr. fil

Even though I never was a great fan of the late Janez Drnovšek, he had my respect and possibly surprisingly so I felt saddened by his passing. As a year went around, so many things changed and so many things stayed the same. And, as years tend to do, another one came, stayed a while and waved goodbye. For me, for some reason, this has become a time for reflection.

What a ride it’s been. Crises springing up left and right. Some more man-made than others, some made up. The constant feeling of urgency, of pressure to “act or else” has been unrelenting. Anyone mention panem et circenses? Show time! And boy, have we had a few some circus acts. Twitter came in handy as a vent, so I have not really blogged about them (but Mr. P has).

What I find deeply disturbing is the level of debate that has become acceptable if not the norm. It would seem that the most fundamental (n)etiquette rules are being blatantly ignored. Reality show type of reporting in the media where attractiveness of a news – if we dare call it that – piece takes precedence over its credibility seems to have taken over and changed the tone of public discourse. If a long time ago one wished for more relaxed public speakers, one now finds herself dangerously close to supporting the use of gag orders. Heck, the use of gags in general.

Conspiracy theories have been around since the forbidden fruit was consumed. And networks have existed ever since. For cover-up purposes, naturally. Now seriously – alone, a single human is a rather weak animal. Together with others, he or she can achieve so much. Learn from one another, help each other, build together, make music. (And destroy ever so effectively). Continuously, we yearn for human contact, for a feeling of connectedness. Face it. Tweet it, even.

The concepts of human rights, of human dignity, of letting the law rather than lynch mobs remedy transgressions in a society, the presumption of innocence, all of these came much later than the need to build networks of people. And, it seems, what comes last is the first to go down the drain when Maslow’s pyramid is chipped off. The steadiest of men will struggle to keep to the principle of treating others the way he would wish to be treated when emotions run high. The feeling of belonging to a group of people who appear to share the same belief and ride the same wave of emotions is bound to drive that wave up into the skies. For better or for worse.

But… Who are you, when you are alone and all by yourself with nothing to keep you company but your thoughts? Are you at peace with what you see inside?

Spet.

(Photo by dr. fil: Dragon at the Ljubljana Castle)

Will 2010 mark the Return of the Jedi?

(foto: dr. fil)

photo by dr. fil

peace is important
compromise brings cohesion
cherries will blossom

hopefully

Jose Miguel caught my attention in the Dominican Republic a year ago with that sunny smile and entrepreneurial spirit. Which is not even a tiny fraction of the attention the Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor is getting exactly on the one-year-in-office anniversary. What has he done? Apparently, he made good on his promise to clean the national football team’s shoes if they won in the decisive match against Russia, which took place last Wednesday. It was stated immediately that the PM kept his word, but no material evidence was provided, except for a sad-looking shoe brush, which immediately raised doubts regarding the claims of the PM cleaning up.

Now, a video was released, which has or has not put those doubts to rest. Whether you think the whole thing is cool, that it’s a populist stunt or that it never actually happened, one thing is sure. It feels good to argue about something of this calibre for a change and not yet another aspect of macroeconomics. Comforting, even.

Gotta love the circuses. Tough to enjoy them without the bread, though.

Slovenians & friends rooting for the national team at a Luxembourgish bar last Saturday (photo by dr. fil)

Regardless of what most folks in the US and Australia may think, football (soccer for some) is the world’s most popular sport. Come to think of it, we met several enthusiasts in the US this summer, among them a young kid who’s on his school’s soccer team and never misses an important game on TV.

Tonight, Slovenia will be attempting to qualify for the Football World Cup 2010 in South Africa in a match against Russia. If you’re anywhere near Luxembourg, you’re welcome to come and join a group of Slovenia supporters at the Britannia Pub. Not everyone may end up watching the game very attentively, but our hearts will be in the right place

Malaruda the chaperone was taking good care of me.

As all my friends and probably their friends know by now, I have just been through a particularly nasty illness, which was diagnosed as the swine flu, or in politically correct terms, the H1N1 flu. Having already explained the symptoms endured h+n times over, I might as well write them down.

To be quite honest, I may have overdone it a bit with the stress on my immune system. Something I tend to do as a true-blooded Aries.  Except that I never get sick. As in, I don’t have colds. I get sick hearing some politicians talk. Or when I am inadvertently exposed to commercials for the latest reality shows. That’s pretty much it. Or, I should say, that used to be pretty much that.

If you must go down, go down with style.

After a strenuous week of exercise, work, seminars and classes as well as putting more than 3,000 km on my car in 7 days and sharing two long rides with a sick guy on antibiotics who failed to mention being unwell, the dance began.

The high fever would come down after paracetamol, only to climb right up again. I went to see a doctor here in Luxembourg whom I picked for her office’s sheer proximity. One block away. It was actually not easy to walk that far and my lungs were not very cooperative in the oxygen-supply department. Having measured my blood pressure and eavesdropped on my lungs, she put on a mask and told me I should not have come to her office as I probably contaminated the entire area and that I should have warned her that I had the swine flu. Ahem? I dragged myself out of there straight to the pharmacy that’s another block away, put on a freshly purchased mask and went back to my pig stall armed with medicines. Never had any blood work done.

All in all, I went through seven days straight of yoyoing between 39°C and 37°C. Reach 39, take a pill that brings it down within one hour, spend the next five hours feeling it rise, then kill it off with another pill. I felt very weak. My entire body was in pain and it was painful to try and breath normally. Taking a deep breath would cause a sharp pain cutting through the lungs and chest, making me cough, which led to more deep breaths and more pain. Sweet. The last three days I spent the second half of the night changing my jammies for something not quite as soaked in sweat.

After a total seven days of this torture, the temp came down and stayed at around 37.5°C for another three days. The swine or whatever she cares to call herself was growing weary. Hurrah for the white blood cells! I think they finally used the big guns and did the polka. They’re fairly secretive and don’t like to share their secret methods of combat.

Not to make this all too dull, my head then decided that it had to spin. And spin it did. Remember those extra-fast merry-go-rounds at the playground? Imagine riding one for three days without getting off. And you don’t even have to get out of bed for the sensation. What fun! Doctor claimed it was the uncivilised dancer leaning in for a closer look at my inner ear. These particular ungulates never have been known for good manners, have they.

I do not recommend this dance-a-thlon to friends. Or to foes, for that matter. It has left me tired and weak. I can tell that it will take me a few weeks to fully recover, but the one consolation I have is that it’s a one-time-only affair and the inconsiderate virus will now have to stay at bay.

It seems that among friends and colleagues I have been promoted to the position of a question box for all inquiries related to the H1N1 flu. Honestly, guys, I know about as much as you do. Since my blood was never tested, I cannot even be entirely certain that the diagnosis was correct. The one thing everyone seems to be asking me is “should I get vaccinated”. Hey, it’s your call. It depends on your own personal circumstances and the state of your health and you would do well to discuss it with your physician. Given a choice between enduring the possible side effects of the vaccine that might include a slight fever for a few days and the truly uncomfortable ordeal I have endured, I know exactly what my choice would have been. Regardless of any and all pharmaceutical-industry-related conspiracy theories. But hey, hindsight has always been 20-20.

EDIT: I must add my thanks here. To all my cats, feline and human, for the bountiful TLC, to Tina for doing my grocery shopping and cooking chicken soup for me, to my family for calling and checking up on me (actually made me think I should get sick more often), to friends writing e-mails and Facebook messages. You all made such a difference. Thanks!

Versailles, France (photo by dr. fil)

Granted, the term media comes with various meanings. Still, while looking for a definition, this one came close to what we arguably think of first:

media (usually used with a plural verb): the means of communication, as radio and television, newspapers, and magazines, that reach or influence people widely (source)

Now I do understand that blogs are perceived by some as “new media” and we often hear the term of citizen journalism. Well, crap.

As I see it, blogs are convenient places to vent, to share with others one’s experience and opinions, opinions, opinions. Have I mentioned opinions? They are as different as the people who write them. Without editors in place to censor or instil common sense and without owners to set goals to be achieved by their hired managers. Yes, it’s great. Hey, I play the game on occasion. It can be fun, yes. But are they media?

Let’s take a look at citizen journalism. Sure, it can be a wonderful learning experience for an aspiring journalist. It can, again, provide a vent to folks with an axe to grind. It can certainly help rally support for various causes, not least political parties in electoral campaigns. But more than that? Take a look at the Citizen Journalism Standards as published by the Huffington Post, for example. Err, journalism 101, anyone? Come to think of it, some regular do-it-for-a-living journalists might do well to re-read that set of rules.

So what’s my point? Who knows, I’m just venting. Seriously, blogging is not journalism and blogs are not media as in relatively reliable professional productions. Those blogs and bloggers who come close to what we perceive as such, will either be transformed into real grown-up media with real responsibilities and accountability and try to make a living with it or they will lose heart.

Unless they’re actually part of some sort of estabished media, bloggers, in my opinion, simply lack the resources and most of them lack the knowledge and training to be reckoned with as media of wide reach with an actual influence on the public.  Just as importantly or more, as far as I am concerned, they lack accountability. Which brings us to the reason why I went on this ramble parade. Not that long ago, one of the first and probably best-known Slovenian bloggers allowed a guest poster to publish a certain text that I found upsetting.

In the midst of a particularly sensitive period of relations between Slovenia and Croatia, theguest poster published a note about an online strategy game, in which the faux Slovenian President declared war on Croatia. He was in effect drafting people to join the game and go to (online) war on the Slovenian side. Now you may think I’m being anal about this, but violence, even one that seems benign, has always been my pet peeve. The blog’s owner told me everyone has a right to their own opinion. Right. But would such a call to join an online war on a neighbouring countries, drawing on the real-life disputes and tensions, be published and advocated in mainstream media? One would hope not.

Il faut que tu respires (photo by dr. fil)

The subject may be a bit omnipresent, but nevertheless, I decided to participate in this year’s Blog Action Day just as I did last year and the year before.

When tackling the subject of climate change I suppose that the logical front-line discourse is that on its very existence. Is the climate really changing or is the data on which research and reports are actually faulty. Such as temperature measured at the same spots that now happen to be in an urban environment whereas a hundred years ago they were surrounded by forests.

The next logical question might be whether it has been established beyond doubt that climate change has been brought about by human action rather than being a part of the nature of all things on Earth where the only constant is change.

And even if everyone agreed on the above, people would argue whether anything can be done to halt let alone reverse the process.

Today, I choose not to plunge into any of these debates. I know that I like living in a clean environment. I know that I enjoy nature. I know that I hate nasty smells. I know that in most countries, very little energy comes from renewable resources nowadays and that its production causes tangible and visible harm to the environment and to people in vicinity of the power plants. I know that we have developed a mainly buy-as-you-go-then-throw-away society. Other than that, I don’t know very much.

This morning as I went for my early morning jog in Paris (shameless brag plug) and it was still pretty much night out there, I ran past the Notre Dame cathedral and the Georges Pompidou centre. A few days before, I ran to the Sacré Cœur on top of the Montmartre. None of these famous buildings were illuminated except for a few light bulbs inside. Same goes for other world-renowned sites I admired. While in another little country I know, a countless number of little churches are illuminated throughout the night. I find the difference sobering and find myself wondering whether shutting those lights could be a good place to start eliminating some of the light pollution and excessive use of energy.

In total disregard for local weather, I went jogging in my usual gear, i.e. shorts and a tank top, with the temperature at freezing point outside. I passed by not only the grand monuments, but the usual ladies of the night / early morning as well. Two of them – at different posts, mind you – asked me whether it wasn’t too cold and expressed concern for my health. Somehow, I think that may have been ‘the line’ last night. When I returned some 45 minutes later, they were gone. I suppose they were some place warm.

All the rambling aside, I don’t know whether the climate is changing and if so, whether through actions of men. But I do want to live in a place that is clean and green. In my little world, what counts are the actions of every single person.

So let those who talk the talk walk the walk rather than ride private jets. Use public transportation. Heck, use your legs and do some walking or ride a bike. Let’s turn off all the unnecessary lights and get warm without overheating our homes. Clothes help. So do blankets. Or a hug.

Mickey 3D: Respire – Tu vas pas mourir de rire…