Watching the news in the last few days while in Boston I felt compelled to draft out a story line for one of my favorite TV series “The Americans”

Here is the story arc for their 2018 season:

“We fast forward to 2016: 27 years after the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia is still pulling the strings in the USA, and tries to install a puppet president by manipulating the media, hacking the internet and hoodwinking the public. There are clear signs of this, due to inept cover ups and mistakes but it seems no one cares, and he is elected anyway, to the amazement of the Kremlin + World. With such an amazing coup, Russia is able to take the embargoes off Cuba to the extent that it can install ICBMs on it. And then fights a proxy war against China by stirring up tensions in North Korea and the South China Seas. The new president then erects trade tariffs with the world, throwing the international banking system into a swoon. He then pulls USA troops out of Europe and Eastern Europe panics, allowing Russian troops into former vassals like Latvia (pretext to annex Kaliningrad Oblast, rest of Ukraine etc #truefax). The UK, normally a useful ally is completely distracted by its own Russian manipulated Brexit so is of no use – except that principled former members of its secret agencies leak out documents about the US President having links to Russia, but again, like water off a ducks back, it seems the public and media does not care, and the new Presidents popularity soars.

But the President cares, and fires Stan Beeman, the Head of the FBI in retaliation.

Meanwhile in the Kremlin, Putin and chums are like a drunk Beavis and Butthead playing a 1980s computer game, and dare each other to make the new president say things live on air in news conferences. “Vladimir, Make him say ‘My Butt Smells'”, “No lets make him say ‘Mad Dog'” “Hee hee hee” They snigger.

Watching in despair, are Philip and Elizabeth Jennings, who have been dormant for 27 years, and have since had to actually work successfully as Travel Agents, starting up the first dot com travel site (no money from Kremlin but the computer skills Philip picked up really became useful, thanks KGB).

Now they are truly Americans, feeling loyalty to the democratic system they once worked hard to destroy. They are so horrified with the misinformation foisted on the US public that that they work against their former spymaster bosses. Using spycraft, they install their children Paige and Henry into positions of power: congress and the media. They work to reveal the truth behind the lies, finding proof that the President and media are puppets of Russia.

But in a bitter irony, it is Stan Beeman who is handed false information and they are denounced as spies for Russia. Stan hunts them down and accuses them in a dramatic climax. He kills Elizabeth, and shoots Philip, but as Philip dies, he tells Stan all they had done over the last 35 years and Stan, unable to live with the shame, shoots himself.

Still, there is hope. The Jennings kids are now in the Democrats and Paige becomes the democrats choice to be the next president of the USA, hooray!”

Nah, no one would believe that…

Electronic Circuit Slideshare

Flashing Light Circuit NL Clubjesmiddag 16Mar2014sm – workbook

From the excellent site: http://www.productmanualarchive.org/

This is a US Government-Fallout-Protection manual from 1961. Colour, typography: Great!

Danger - UV light!

IF YOU ARE GOING TO WRITE SOMETHING ON

The sign says “IF YOU ARE GOING TO WRITE SOMETHING ON “OUR” WOOD, COULD YOU PLEASE BE SO KIND AS TO WRITE SOMETHING WE ALL UNDERSTAND AND NOT A LOAD OF BULLS**T – THANKS”.

Found opposite the ice-cream parlour just off the Westerstraat. Why would someone bother to write this? And in English? For more see PassiveAggressiveNotes

Screen on the street

An old TV, a box of cassettes. Probably nothing really wrong with either.  Just replaced by a skinnier flat model, and an iPod.

Man, I miss mix cassettes. Looking at the box gave me a slight feeling of nostalgia. Handwritten cassette inserts. A lot of care went into to these. Now carelessly discarded.

Box of C90s

Public works in the Westergracht 15 Sept 2008

I was cycling along the old Westergracht, wondering where all the parked cars where. Of course not there due to the men digging up the street and relaying the cobble stones.

But it looked good! It really opened up the space. It would be a great improvement if they banned the cars altogether from the middle of the Westergracht. Anyone from the gemeente reading?

Chair Bear Bunch

I was cycling the WunderKind to the creche this week when some street rubbish caught my eye. What happended here? It looked like a bar-room fight resulting in a broken chair. Probably one of the Amsterdammertjes caught the full force.

This will Chair you up

I’ve got another similar picture of a broken chess board. Man, these guys can’t take a joke!

"Freeform Chess" - as the Germans would say. We say "Jazz".

Elandsgracht festival 14 Sept 2008

I don’t think the japanese invented karaoke. When you see how much fun the Dutch have with watching local crooners singing over backing tapes of old Johnny Jordaan or Andre Hajes songs, and getting drunk, and swaying to the haunting melodies (and joining in wailing with singers), you would have to believe that it’s an invention from the Netherlands.

Last weekend the local bar “Cafe de Jordaan” had it’s annual fest. Stage, beer, singing. No trouble, just some boozed up jolly folks. And for some strange reason many polished up Harleys (and their similarly polished up owners).

Shiny mid-life crisis model Harleys, in the Elandsgracht 14 sept.

Atomic Energy Lab - Erector Set

Like a Meccano set, but with radioactive samples (“completely harmless!”) and a Geiger counter (“find Uranium and get a reward from the US Government!”), the A C Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab was sold to help the young boys of America to get to ahead in science.

I’m guessing early 50’s vintage – and the sort of kit I would have probably wanted. I was always one for electrical and electronic kits -which I think DID help my education, and a chemistry kit, which apart from making a few stinks, bending some glass tubes and growing some crystals, did not really help.

I can’t imagine such a kit of atomic fun being allowed to be sold today. Source: Science leads the way

More on Paper Scissors Rock – this time from Hollywood. And one final one from the world of music: