What has happened? Two professional tennis players, Yanina Wickmayer (WTA-18) and Xavier Malisse (ATP-95) have been suspended to compete during the next year because they have forgotten to fill out their whereabouts as the WADA always expects every athlete in the world to do so. The ban is effective immediately, and lasts until November 4th of 2010. They have been suspended by the “Flemish Doping Court”. This means that Yanina Wickmayer has to stop immediately to compete at the B-Masters in Bali where she started yesterday. The only thing they can do is go into higher appeal at the International Sports Tribunal, TAS in Switzerland.

Wickmayer (20) made three times a mistake against the system of the whereabouts, which every athlete in the world has to fill out. Malisse (29) failed in filling them out twice, and missed one doping controle. They have not tested positive, but according to the rules, three offences is the same as one positive test.

They both have a logical explanation for their mistakes. Wickmayer said that the password to log in didn’t work, and the registered mail that was sent to warn her arrived while she was competing somewhere abroad. Malisse says that he couldn’t fill out the details because he didn’t have internet in the hotels where he was staying and on the tournaments where he was competing. And he forgot to tell the WADA that he was going to stay in the States instead of participating at Roland Garros in Paris where he was invited to have a doping test done.

So far the rules. Rules which are pretty insane in the first place. WADA expects every athlete to tell them where they are going to be, on each and every hour of each and every day, for the next three months. I don’t even know where I will be tomorrow or Saturday. I only know that I will be in Canada next week, but don’t ask me where I will be next Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon. Somewhere in the greater Toronto area, that’s the only thing I know. So I honestly believe it’s against the human rights to ask every athlete to fill these details out in a system that is pretty difficult to handle in the first place. And don’t forget that a lot of professional athletes are not amongst the most intelligent people anyhow (but don’t get me wrong, I don’t know Wickmayer nor Malisse personally, so I don’t know about them).

But again, this tiny little region in Western Europe which is called Flanders has got an organisation that wants to be more catholic than the Pope. For once we have an excellent talent coming up (after Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters - who both are returning to professional tennis again), the Flemish anti-doping authorities are just ruining two magnificent careers of two young athletes.

The Flemish should become a little more chauvinistic and take a look South of the Belgian border. I’m giving only one example: the French have tested the French professional cycling teams on average three times less than they tested the foreign cycling teams.

When things like this happen, I am not proud to be a Belgian. As a matter of fact, I feel deeply ashamed to be a Dutch speaking Belgian today…

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We all cried because you are no longer with us, we all laughed because the memories we all have from you will never be forgotten. We were angry because of the injustice, we were thankfull because we had known you.

Speechless, that’s what I am right now. It just makes no sense. It doesn’t feel right, knowing that we will never hear your voice, hear your laughter again.

Erik, you have always been a very special person. You were always ready, on time, whenever or wherever we were supposed to meet. But yesterday, at your remembrance service, your “funeral”, it struck me, as it struck some of our mutual friends that your body was not present. As if you wanted to make a statement that somebody had made a terrable mistake by calling you out of this life far too soon and that you did not agree with that. Your “funeral” was certainly the only one I have been to where the deceased person was not present. As I already said, you were a very special person, even after your death, yes indeed.

Erik, whenever you found out that one of your friends was facing a problem, you only needed two words: “Where?” and “When?”. You couldn’t wait to meet with your friends to help solve their problem! That was typical for you. No mountain was too high, no obstacle too difficult, no bridge too long. You simply would not rest until you had found a solution.

Knowing that you have lived your life to the fullest, realising that you sucked everything out of each and every minute, out of each and every second of your life only brings little relief. Although you have lived through enough experiences and adventures to fill up three lifes, and thus it seems to me like you have lived for 138 years instead of 46, it also brings little relief.

Peter Melders, one of our mutual friends stated it perfectly during his speech yesterday: “We can only assume that the one who has called you out of this life must have had a serious reason for having done so. Otherwise, you will be making a lot of trouble up there!“.

Erik, thank you for having been my friend. To me, it sure was an honour and a privilege to have been one of yours.

Farewell my friend…

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A couple of years later, he left the army and started working in various countries. I think it was about two years ago that he got an offer he couldn’t refuse to go working somewhere in Saudi-Arabia. Only last week, I was thinking of him and I wanted to give him a phonecall to chat a little bit. Unfortunately, something came up, and I forgot to call him. Stupid me. Now I can never call him anymore.

I called his widow immediately after I heard the bad news. She’s getting on a plane to Saudi-Arabia tomorrow morning, in order to go and collect the body, hoping the Saudis will let her take him with her. Apparently everything goes pretty slow over there.

While I am thinking back, I can’t recall when we met for the last time. It must have been while I was still living in Belgium, so it must have been somewhere in 2002 or early 2003. Despite that fact, we kept in touch, calling each other every now and then, and writing each other e-mails. But we kept close, very close. Damned, why do these things happen?

One thing is sure: I will never forget Erik. I will always remember him as a very enthusiastic, optimistic person who was always willing to reach out and help each and everybody when it was necessary. He was always ready to work very hard and professionally, but as soon as the job was done, he was ready to party as well. It is said that a person has got less than five really good friends. Today, I have lost one of those five.

Erik, buddy, Cher Ancien, rest in peace.

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They also launched the first Congolese living creature, a rat. At least, that was the intention. How it all worked out in practise can be seen in the clip below here… The rocket didn’t go off into the right direction, but they really considered it a “giant leap in their technology”…

It must be said, the Congolese people remain very, very optimistic!

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While approaching Bruges, the boyfriend gets a gun and tells the pilot to land the helicopter inside one of the biggest Belgian prisons, in order to free three Maroccan “friends”, Ashraf Sekkaki, Abdelhaq Melloul Khayari and the real boyfriend of the girl, Mohammed Johri. These three guys jump on board, but apparently the helicopter is overloaded, so they kick out the guy who hijacked the helicopter, Lahoucine El Haddouchi. Asshole number one has bought himself a one way ticket to jail, and is now risking a sentence of twenty years for hijacking a helicopter and taking the pilot hostage.

The three crooks and the girl fly away, they steal a car, commit four bank robberies in order to get some cash, go undercover in an Amsterdam hotel, and after one week, they decide to go to their home country, Marocco. On their way to Marocco, Abdelhaq Melloul Khayari is spotted by Paris police, succeeds in running again, but gets arrested in Brussels a couple of days later. He can consider himself as the lucky one, as he is now back in a Belgian cell.

The other two finally make it to Marocco, only to get arrested over there. Johri got arrested some time last week, and Sekkaki, being considered as the most dangerous of the trio, got arrested last weekend. The good news is that they have been arrested in Marocco, and having the Maroccan nationality, they will not be handed over to Belgian justice, but they will be trialled in Marocco. They will be charged with hijacking a helicopter, taking hostage a pilot, stealing a car, four bank robberies, and undoubtedly, another couple of things. They are risking at least twenty years in a Maroccan prison, which cannot be compared with the luxury of a Belgian cellblock. I honestly believe they are back where they really belong.

In the meantime, the girl is still missing. Belgian police think she is still alive, but I can only imagine what this girl has gone through. Having been on the run with three criminals who had been put away for several years without having had contact with a woman…

In Belgium, they have the “law-Lejeune”, which makes it possible to get parolled after having served one third of the sentence. E.g. a life sentence in Belgium means that one usually gets out of prison after having served ten to twelve years. Johri only had to serve three more years in the luxury of a Belgian cell in order to be a free man again. In Marocco, no such thing exists. Twenty years in prison means… twenty years in prison. In Belgium, big criminals are usually hold in a cell alone. They have television, they have a bed, they have the possibility to exercise, they are allowed a one hour walk in the open air. No such things in Marocco. Each prisoner in Marocco has on average three square meters of space. They are thrown in one room, thirty, forty, fifty prisoners, all together, with only a hole in the ground to relieve themselves…

Medieval circumstances. But isn’t this what most Muslims want? Don’t they want to take this world back into the middle ages?

Anyway, these stupid people have really made some wrong choices. Although the year is not over yet, they  have already deserved the title of “asshole of the year 2009″. I found the clip below on YouTube. It gives a nice view on what these assholes can expect for the next twenty odd years of their lives…

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This morning I am having an appointment to see my doctor. The appointment was made about three months ago, as I see her every three months. After every visit, I immediately book a new appointment. Which makes things easy. I was scheduled to see my doctor at 09.30am. I arrived around 09.00am and cued up for about half an hour until it was my turn.

Apparently, a new good looking long legged bitch is now running the administration at the local health center. I told her my name, and told her that I had an appointment at 09.30am. To my big surprise, the bitch told me that she didn’t care at all about pre-booked appointments, and that since she has become in charge of the whole thing, people are being treated the old fashioned way on a “first come, first serve” basis. I also found out that there were about nine people who had come in earlier than I did, and I immediately realised I would be losing at least two to three hours of this beautiful and sunny Monday morning. So I wanted to book a new appointment. The bitch told me that this was not going to be possible, as she didn’t have an agenda. So I accepted the fact that I would be losing the biggest part of this Monday morning, I went to have breakfast on a local terrace in the village, and came home where I am now writing these words. Once this article is published, I will be doing some administration for my company and will go back and see my doctor, which will be around noon.

I realise it is hard to believe, but this is Portugal at the end of July of 2009. A country in which it is still possible that a local health center is run by a customer unfriendly but good looking bitch, who uses medieval tools and a “kiss-my-beautiful-ass-mentality”. As a matter of fact, I just come to think of it. I am glad that I am living alone. Imagine me living together with a woman like her. I think I would go into politics, and become Minister of Foreign Affairs, in order to be able to travel away as much as possible and as far as possible!

But fortunately, the sun is shining today. As it is shining about 330 days a year. And I will enjoy the rest of my day, once I will have seen my doctor. And I will enjoy the rest of my week, while the bitch will still be harassing her customers who need to see their doctor…

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Thinking back of my Canadian trip, I must say that the business part of it went very well. I succeeded in doing the things I wanted to do. And as I always do, I took some time for “pleasure” as well. Toronto remains a beautiful city, despite the strike of the city workers that caused all the garbage remaining in the streets. The Niagara Falls were still amazing, as they always have been. And during the last couple of days, I went up north, to stay in the middle of Ontario’s beautiful nature. Despite the many mosquito bites that I still carry as a souvenir, it was a wonderful experience. There are countless beautiful lakes, amazing woods and wonderful national parks in that area.

Thinking back of those last three days, I got this crazy idea… I am thinking of renting a cottage in the neighbourhood of one of those lakes, which must also be close to one or the other airfield. Because I would love to restart my flying lessons. I flew small planes, until I moved to Portugal in 2003. Since then, I haven’t done that anymore. And I must admit, it is one of the most enjoyable things I have ever done in my life. And as flying lessons in Canada are a lot less expensive than in Europe, I might as well take them over there. It is a crazy idea, and I will not do this during this year anymore, but maybe some time in the late spring or early summer of next year. I’ll keep you posted on that.

But one thing is certain: Canada, you will see me back. And probably sooner than you can imagine right now!

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The Falls were formed over 13 thousand years ago when glaciers retreated from this part of Ontario. In their lifetime, the Falls have retreated over 11 kilometers, and one day in the very far off future, this site will be little more than a river’s rapids. Niagara carries over 20% of the world’s fresh water, flowing from four of the Great Lakes. Travelling over 65 kilometers an hour, the water’s speed and huge volume (dropping 154 million liters of water every single minute on their journey downstream to Lake Ontario!) has immense erosive power. The brink of the Falls moved up to three meters every year until twentieth century engineering intervened to slow the rate down to only thirty centimeters every ten years.

If you are looking to get very, very wet, but you want to come up close and personal with the Falls, there are two ways to do so. You can either jump on a little boat called “Maid of the Mist”, or you can go on the “Journey Behind The Falls”. Over 12 million tourists visit the Falls each and every year, and I was told this afternoon that more film is sold at Niagara Falls than anywhere else in the world.

The Falls consist of two main drops, the American Falls entirely on the U.S. side of the border and the more spectacular Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side. In 1901, 63-year old school teacher Anna Taylor became the first person to go over the falls in a barrel and survive. Not all who have tried this curious feat over the years have been so lucky and obviously, today this stunt is illegal. However, today 49 years ago, the only person who went unintentionally over the Falls and survived was young Roger Woodward. After a boating accident on July 9th of 1960, this seven-year-old boy was swept over the Falls wearing only a life jacket and a swimming suit. The crew of the Maid of the Mist II rescued Roger pulling him unharmed from the churning water. Roger’s seventeen-year-old sister was pulled from the river above the Falls by two onlookers, and the driver of their boat, Jim Honeycut, lost his life in this tragic event.

Somehow, during the settlement and development of Niagara Falls, it became known as the “honeymoon capital of the world” and to this day, tens of thousands of newlyweds still flock to the Falls to celebrate their nuptials.

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