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Lyrics: “Little Changes” – Frank Turner, 2018

I recently stopped using the podcast app Pocket Casts, where I had signed up for a free account a long time ago. I refuse – or at least try to limit – my use of the big players (Spotify, Amazon, Google) to listen to podcasts. Diversify and all that. When my Pocket Casts app startscreen was getting crowded recently I realized I’d have to switch to the paid account to be able to use folders so I looked into alternatives and found AntennaPod. Free / open-scource is not a must-have for me, but always nice and when I read that I could use a Nextcould app – gPodder – to sync devices (my regular phone and my simple backup that I sometimes like to use as distraction free mediaplayer) I was sold. It works on both those devices and also easily on Android Auto, which is a must, as I’ve started listening to podcasts in my car a lot.

I used the slightly tedious job of subscribing / downloading all my regular podcasts and interesting episodes in the new app for some housekeeping; deleting downloaded or queued episodes I know I probably won’t listen to after all, added some new potentially interesting ones. I still struggle with my strange – perfectionist related? – impulse of “I need / want to catch up with ALL the episodes” of a subscribed podcast. I don’t know why I feel like I failed when I don’t.

I have now filed my subscriptions into the following categories: 

• History
• Interview
• Politics / News
• Science
• Self-care
• Women Roar

The latter is basically also interviews and at least one I could have just as well put under self-care. But these days and age I very much enjoy listening to female hosts with a distinct feminist lens in their interviewing / chatting. Because I am SO sick of cis white guys talking to each other in front of a microphone. One of my male self-care podcasts hosts recently shared that he was included in Hollywood Reporter’s “44 Most Powerful Players in Podcasting in 2025” list. Good for him, but when I looked at the complete list over 75% of the podcasts had male hosts, 22% were female only, and the rest were a 1 men / 2 women panel of hosts, but that doesn’t really change the ratio. So yes, I’d like to hear more women roar.

Why am I talking about podcasts to this length anyway? One of the single episodes (not sure yet if it’s worth a subscription) I finally listened to was a German one about how to make the most of our leisure time (or as we in German call it “free time”) from a neuroscience / psychological point of view. (“Gehirn Gehört” – Folge 57: Freie Zeit – Wie erholen wir uns wirklich?) I found lots of it quite eye opening and I think I probably should have known all that already, but it was a helpful reminder: the brain doesn’t need relaxation like a muscle does, in the way that resting and not using is relaxing. The brain best ‘relaxes’ with different activities – like literal activity – or with having your brain focus on stuff, but do something different than you do during your working part of the day. Play an instrument, do a jigsaw puzzle, go out and really listen to nature or do a guided tour of a city or. All is better for your brain than consuming media on your sofa at home (TV, music, books to some extent), because the brain doesn’t engage when it’s just watching / listening, but not doing anything more. Does that makes sense? I find it difficult to translate it from German into English.

With all that in mind I had originally planned to take myself away for the day today: Take the long drive to the ocean for just the day or do another part of the St. James Way. Either way, just take myself away for the day and be a bit active. Because my week had been rather stressful for a variety of reasons.

In the spirit of at least “doing something” in my leisure time I took myself of for a sort of mini break to Düsseldorf (45 minutes drive) last night: Dinner at my favourite burger place (restaurant chain), seeing a movie (with my unlimited card) and after that taking some photos at the media harbour at night.

Over 12.000 steps and keeping my brain active by needing to make lots of decisions: which building, which perspective, which camera settings. Not too bad. Neither are the results, I think.

Lyrics: “Polaroid Picture” – Frank Turner, 2013

Just a few photos from a much needed weekeend away with some of my oldest girl friends. We had lots of yummy food… (More than this here, I didn’t always pull out the camera).

…we played games, we had massages, we relaxed…

… we explored the surroundings.

I should do those mini-breaks more often. I should definitely get a massage more often. And I need to definitely get more sleep. Over and out.

Yesterday I went to see two basketball games as part of the FISU – World University Games 2025, which take place in our metropolitan area that the moment. You not often have the chance to watch professional sports (and uni /college sport already feels quite professional) for just a few Euros. The US women and men basketball teams both had a game nearby so I went and it was enjoyable. I don’t know how the player / team selection usually takes place, but according to the info online this year the USA decided to not put together a team of various students from different university, but select one team to represent the US. For the women it is the Red Raiders from Texas Tech and for the men it’s the Baylor’s Bears for Baylor University.

It was fun to watch, even though I don’t really know much about basketball rules. Like how many steps are allowed while dribbling and such. For the men’s game I had people behind me who clearly did and who almost called the infraction before the referees did. But the general concept of the game I know so it was easy to follow.

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I also made good of my Unlimited Card at the local multiplex and on Friday afternoon watched “Jurassic World – Rebirth”. I don’t remember how many of the Chris Pratt Jurassic movies I’ve watched; some I guess, but not all, I’m sure. I enjoyed this one though, because Jonathan Bailey makes a fine nerdy museum guy and there were nice heartwarming family moments with the sailboat family. With these kind of movies I know not to get attached to any of the secondary crew, because they are most likely to be killed in the genre specific disaster: here eaten by a dinosaur. So I didn’t care too much about all those ship crew, cheered early on when the rude annoying guy got culled, was indifferent about the other two. None of the good (nice, regular) people gets killed in this genrer anyway. So yeah, fun summer blockbuster movie.

The same goes for “Superman”, which I saw last weekend. Typical superhero genre movie, fun to watch if you don’t take it all too seriously. Because if you would seriously consider the death toll of that rift in the earth and everything else? But it’s a fictional superhero story, so you better not.

I realize I haven’t mentioned that the week before last, I also saw “F1” with Brad Pitt. That was a trip down memory lane. I liked him to look at and as an actor since the mid-90s. Not all his movies and all his looks, but he’s aged well and has still got “it”. The movie as such was quite interesting as well.

With going to the movies every week (sort of) I’ve seen the same trailers over and over again. I need some of those movies to come out already so I can watch them. Movie trailers I saw in descending order of my interest_

Fantastic Four – First Steps
I’m generally not a fan of the whole superhero genre (I only vaguely remembered the Justice League connection for Superman), but this 1950’s vibe has got me interested and I’ve also had a tiny girl crush on Vanessa Kirby, back when she was on “The Crown”.

Project Hail Mary
I like Ryan Gosling in general. Not all of his movie choices, but this looks like an interesting enough one. Not coming out before Spring 2026 though.

One Battle After Another
The same thing I say about Ryan Gosling goes for Leo diCaprio. I don’t watch all of his movies and with this one I’m afraid it might turn a bit too violent at some point, but all in all the setup seems interesting enough. And… it’s Leo diCaprio.

Materialists
I’m on the fence about this rom-com. Yes it has Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal competing for a woman’s affection, but the whole posh marriage matchmaker world it’s set in turns me off a bit. I still might see it, because of the Unlimited Card.

I Know What You Did Last Summer
I guess it’s not a direct remake of the 90’s slasher movie, but seems like a similar setup and plot. The characters (and actors) from the 90s all seem to make an appearance. I haven’t watched the one in the 90s, won’t watch now.

The Long Walk
Based on a Stephen King novel and it’s too dystopian and too gruesome for me from the trailer alone. Nope!