Special Announcement: possible temporary break
Hey guys,
as you might have noticed, the latest review took three more days to appear than usual, even though I tried to stick to a set schedule ever since January when the blog went public.
The reason is that, as all of you probably know by now, is that my country is at war with another country, and writing reviews is a delicate process where, if you want to be good, you have to have a certain mix of relaxation and concentration to succeed. As you can imagine, both of these are extremely hard to achieve at the moment. Things are okay in Moscow in terms of general material safety, but psychologically, we’re not in a very good place right now.
For this reason, I cannot guarantee any fixed-schedule reviews (or, in fact, any reviews at all) for at least the following week , and then, depending on the circumstances (it is not at all excluded, for instance, that we shall be completely cut off from the Internet if things keep escalating further). I’ll try my best, but no guarantees. It’s difficult to even concentrate on the regular daytime job.
So let’s think on it as a short vacation while Putin tries to murder as many people from two countries as can guarantee a non-refundable ticket to Hell, and Russia drinks its fill of misery. Oh, and if you can find any way to support the Ukrainian war effort, me and my Ukrainian (and Russian) friends would be very grateful. Or, at least, spread awareness. Stay safe.
I will admit, I did not have the occurrence of a conventional land war in Europe on my 2022 predictions bingo card. This is progressively becoming not only the darkest, but the most bizarre timeline. I hope you do what you need to do to keep your head above water, George.
Some more tunes for a developing anti-war playlist: “I Fought in a War” by Belle and Sebastian, “House at Pooneil Corners” by Jefferson Airplane, “It’s the End of the World as We Know It” by REM, “Universal Soldier” by Donovan, “Yes Sir No Sir” by the Kinks, “King Kong” (also) by the Kinks, “Butcher’s Tale” by the Zombies, “Hell Broke Luce” by Tom Waits, “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield, “Fortunate Son” by CCR, “Zombie” by the Cranberries, “Draft Morning” by the Byrds, “Games Without Frontiers” by Peter Gabriel, “War Sucks” by the Red Crayola, and “Some Mother’s Son” (again) by the Kinks. Mostly low-hanging fruit, of course, but they all work for me.
Hey George, this is Rick from Germany
Whatever You do: Take care of Yourself and those closest to you. That is what counts.
In my neck of the woods, we do our darndest to gather as many resources as we possibly can
and get them to Ukraine and things are picking up speed. Fortunately we do have both ukrainian AND russian friends in France and Germany, so we can act on a somewhat broader base.
Know this: A great many people in western Europe are aware, that this is not a conflict with
"The Russians" but a volley in a battle against authoritarianism - the same enemy that wages war against us all over the fucking place. Crafty little bastard, too. And until we have successfully disposed of this threat, we need to keep our senses, our humor and our guile.
And we will. And so will you.
All the best to You George and all your relations. You are not alone.
Rick, his whole family, his friends and his dog.