No.296, July 2020

No. 296 - July 2020
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The Editor's Bit

Did you miss your Amsterdam Stun? I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking we’re going through strange times at the moment, but let’s battle on and make the best of what we can do.
If you’re hoping to see photos I took of you in March in this edition, I’m afraid you’re out of luck. They all appeared in the online only Lock-down Special that I put on the Stun website before the bars reopened and they’re also on our Facebook page.
All of the photos in this ‘real’ Stun (apart from the one of Jerry’s birthday) have been taken since the bars reopened to this ‘New Normal’ way of life, so I’ve had to do my best to make it appear like everybody is practising social distancing, but sometimes it looks like people are closer together than they actually were. It’s all a matter of perspective.
My friend Sandra had a stroke a while back, but that hasn’t stopped her wanting to come back to Amsterdam to see her friends here. She was planning to come over for Kings Day, but the lock-down stopped that, so after a tip off from her granddaughter Georgia, I arranged a surprise video call to Sandra on her 72nd birthday. Another ex-Amsterdammer, Adele, went to see Sandra in person. Sandra was over the moon to get the call from so many of her friends in the Flying Dutchman wishing her a Happy Birthday that she’s determined to get back here in person very soon.
When the coffeeshops had to close on that fateful Sunday, street dealers came out of nowhere, forcing the government to change tactics, but they did nothing for us Pub Quiz fanatics. Luckily for us, loads of live quizzes appeared online, so we could still get our fix, either playing as a team via Messenger or the occasional night together at my place, but it’s not the same as playing against other teams in a bar, so Sidd, myself, Tamara, Lesley and Jeroen were so happy when Café Thijssen started their weekly quiz night again, even though it’s currently limited to teams of two.
If you’re interested, the cover of the March Stun had the statue of Theo Thijssen on the corner of Brouwersgracht and Lindengracht.
There’s no Cover Completion this month; even if you haven’t seen it yourself yet, everybody has heard about the Lego Andre Hazes on Dam Square!
Most of our usual stuff is in this month, apart from Terry Mann’s column, plus a bit about Molly Malone’s on the next page.
Enjoy your first post lock-down Stun.