Thousend times thanks!


To all the followers of the blog, to anyone who has been supportive of Frank or us in the last months and especially after his untimely death we want to say thanks from the bottom of our hearts. In the week after his passing we received so much warmth, stories, care and love, hardly describable. To us it was a very precious and valuable week and it was so good to have Frank at home where so many of his friends could visit him. And all the help, stories and info shared in that week led to a beautiful goodbye ceremony on a beautiful sunny autumn day. For those of you who could not attend, or those of you who wish to reread the funeral speeches, we publice them here (in dutch and english) with some pictures in grateful memory of, and tributed to Frank.We will miss him dearly, thanks for being with him and with us, one way or another,

On behalf of my family and his closest friends, Esther

Foto's Frank

vrijdag 30 september 2011

t.V.

The psdt few days T.V was interesting.On tuesday evening there was nothing, on Wednesday Planet Dinosaurand Who do you think you are, yesterday nothing and tonight Digging for Britain. I am so looking forward to tonight.

Historical Frank

P.S.I also miss the five volumes of "Van nul tot nu", a history of the Netherlands in vpmic form. They saare in my study.
P.P.S I also miss little MukMuk the cat.


frank

The strangecase of the vanishing herrings

As you all know, mother regularly brings me herring. But often, ehen Iask for it at breakfast next morning, it is gone. I do not know what has happenedd to the herring, but I want it to stop.The heering id for me and nobody else.

Angry frank (sounding like rge title of a computer game)

The list of longing

On mornings like these I long for my books, games and magazines, whichare still in my flat. To be specific:
Books
Military unifoms in America, four volumes *The revolutionary War period, Years of Growth, THecivil War period,Modern Period. All in dark blue dust jackets in the library.
Jose M.Bueno, Soldados de Espana, paperback , white back, red letters. In the library,.
R.Hagger, Bob Marriott,cuirassies abd Heavy Horse, Hussars and Lancers, Dragoons and Mounted Rifles, uniforms of the German CavalryAlmark publications. In the study.
games(all in the syudy or the library): Unhappy King Charles, Gustav Adolf yhe Great. With God and victorious Arms, Army of Ireland.
Magazines:
Airfix Magazine, Wargames Illustrated 100-200(in the cellar).
Finally, one request:Can anybody take me to Casus Belli on Sundays?
Thanks in advance

Frank

donderdag 29 september 2011

I am practising getting in and out of bed under mynown power. Ellen was amazed.things are going well and there is progress.

Franl

Ewading

luckily, yesterday mathieu returned my external harddisk. I can read books again! Yay!

Frank

woensdag 28 september 2011

looking forward to

I hsve a lotof things to look forward to:
to start toniht on thw CCC Planet Dinosaur, followed by who do you think you are.
in a few weeks my leg brace will be here. I am curious to see hoe it will feel.
The days to come:I look forward to more walking.
October 8th: Duzi.Wonderful Duzi.

Greetings

Frank

dinsdag 27 september 2011

I amsooo bored
Frank

troubles

i am having a problem communicating wirhthe staff. i cannot rest when I want (like right now). They are afraid I won't fall asleep in the evenings.Furthermore they are like the Police:never there when needed, always disturbing when I am doing something nice. So all I can do is listen to stupid music on Radio Gelderland and stupid Dutch music from the room across the corridor. Dumb Sieneke withSha la lie. can't somebody shoot the bitch.

Angry Frank

maandag 26 september 2011

suriname memories

Morememories of my stay inParamaribo:Our nrighbours across the street with their own private zoo. it ncluded a "tapijtslang", the most economical pet I've ever seen.a few dead rats per month and it was content. i remember going into the bush with neighbour boys and coming out welll stung by every mosquito for miles.I remember the wreck of the German freighteer Gotha, which the crew sank in May 1940.I also remember playing in Fort Zeelandia, where Boutrse had his opponents shot many years later I fondly rememberan escaped turtle by the-ide of the road abd a/swimming teacher who was so strong he could lift us kids over his head and throw us in the pool. We loved that!. I retain many fond memories of that land....
Dad warning us not to get any scraped off ice cream("Thypoid on a stick" were his2ords). Andbgoing inland. My sweet sister Esther, having seen too many Tarzan films, trying out a vine to sling from, andcrashing to the ground with twenty yards of vine!

very nostalgic Fra k

yesterday's T?v.

Yesterday I watched some Dutch TV. On Net 2they had part of a series of documentaries on the history of slavery.in all honesty, the makers spent a lot of time reading up on their subject and it shows! Meticulously researched, th junior version was about the importance of sugar.when I was un Suriname in the early'70's, I saw a lot of it, including decaying plantatoon houses along the Commewijne river.all those memories came flooding back yesterday evening.

Greetings from melancholic frank

zondag 25 september 2011

yesterdayYesterday thE two plundererers Mathieu and Walter were here and had a goodlook of what they wanted to plunder. No plundering took plce, to my great joy. I am sure thry'll be back sooon, though.

Frank

zaterdag 24 september 2011

i am awaiting my plundering friends and would really like to go shoppingnin. Town

frank
i am awaiting my plundering friends and would really like to go shoppingnin. Town

frank

vrijdag 23 september 2011

oNE OF THE THINGS i AM mRS.cREEMERS GRATEFUL FORIS THAT THE POSESSED a pre-WW1 grace, charm and style, trhat I could not help but adore. It was a great influence on my life.


Frank

EOUTUBE TO THE RESCUE

This morning I have been watching Cats 101 a lot on Youtybe as well as FREDERICKIAN STUFF. go TO yOUTUBE ANF TYPR IN fREDERICK THE gREATOR fEHRBELLINER rEITERMARSCH! IMust confess Cats 101 makes me go weak. There all soooo cuute!

Sincerely yours

Frank

donderdag 22 september 2011

Visit, gratitude

Well, Mrs. Creemers was here this afternoon. It was absolutely delightful to see her again. She had a profound influence on my development. When I was a teenager i visited her regularly. She had inherited an absolutely wonderful collection of tin figures from her father plus th eGerman collectors magazines (Die Zinnfigur, Alte ubd Neue Zinnfiguren) that went with it.I used to borrow the magazines and translate uniform articles on sheets of school notebooks. these I stored in see-through holdalls in binders. This was the beginning of the Big System.
This all stimulated my interestin history through hmy imagination. And all that translating helped my German in school aswelll.I grew up with Napoleon and Frederick the Great. Today I wasable to thabk her for that.


GratefulFrank
Welll, I have woken up and am watching a programme abou cats. life's good. I am soo lloking forward to Mrs Creemr's visit this sfternoon. When I was younger she had a great influence on my fascination with military history, which I appreciate to yhis very day.

Frank

dinsdag 20 september 2011

Check these out!
Celtic Boast Battle Song (rap)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXgtZbrcxBQ&feature=relateand and
anad for Goth magazine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW3VZWjUVvw&feature=related
Sparta, the school musical
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysmK6LUavR0&feature=related

enjoy, my friends

Frank

Horrible histories

one of the best and most interesting and funny things on T.V. is Horriblr jistoris in the BBD(mostly CBBC on BBC 1). lAST WEEK THEY HAD A pROM PARTY (H.H, at the Proms amd yesterday they broadcast the best songs again, And now I've found them on Youtube. So, enjoy!
Cleopatra song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU2ixWRTfMc&feature=related
Boudicca songhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL7YZVenxMI



Chsrles IIraps to Eminemhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2kyNbZc7oc&feature=related

King Richard III complains abou how his reputation has been savaged by Tudor propaganda and Skakespeare:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6JczvS1PL4&feature=related/

This is a good way to stimulate an interest in history smong kids.Better than anything I've ever seen on Dutch T.V!!



Historically minded Frank

maandag 19 september 2011

Mates

Thinking back a little bit on yesterday, I have to think o Rense, who is becoming a real good mate.. I can fool around with him, play a game and have a serious conversation.Things cannot get better! When, during the wreathlaying, the poem:"Asprcial plce"was read, I came close to tears, and could lean on Rense. Furthermorem the fact that we share intersts makes me cherish our friendship all the more.

Enough sappy writing for now.

Greetings
Frank

Arnhem Sunday

Yesterday Esther took me and Rense to OOsterbeek to attend the wreathlaying at the Ai Despatch Memorial. It was wonderful. I was dwlighted to see so many people of the Air Despatch Association again, and the wrethlaying went really well. Ronald vanMaanen had taken ovwe my duties as "compere"and did so really well.
Evn better, at times during the sevice I was able to stand up and even walk a few steps, with the support o Esther and Rense.
All in all, I returned to Kalorama, much happier. The fact that theAir Despatch association and the lads of 47 Air Despatch Squadron are thinking of me is a terrific morale boost for this week. it also rubbed my nise in an old fact:"You're gonna reap just what you sow (Lou Reed, A perfect day)". THis day gave me a great feeling of empowerment and I cherisheverybody who helped to make itpossible.Thank you.

Greetings to all my readers

Frank

zondag 18 september 2011

Sunday

Well,
all dressed up and ready to go to Oosterbrrk.

but I will only be pickrd up at 15.00jrs. I look forward to seeing as many old friends as possible and sprinklig some whisky on the sites where the ashes of two of them are buried. I remember their friendship with profound gratitude, I want to behave in such a way that my current friends remember me similarly.


Weather is good

Green on!

Frank

zaterdag 17 september 2011

Good day

I have just returned from the museum by taxi where I witnessed the hsnfing over of the last four standards of branches of the Market Garden VeteransAssociation, A moving ceremony.
Rense was there as well and I noticed a lack of ready knowledge on WWW2 detai (badges, insignia, medals, e.a,. I have promised mysrlf thst in the months to come I will do my best tocorrect that situation!PoorRense will be bored out of his skullm but there is no hrlping that.
another bit of good news:themissing GHS bag was at the museum, and niw is here. I'd like to do nothing better than lie ub=n bed ab=nd read, butthey won't let me...

Greetings


Frank
I do not feel well, probably çause I caught a flu or the effubg cold. I am hyperventilating;do not feel good at a;lll.

Frank

vrijdag 16 september 2011

Yesterday evening, I did not feel well. Astrong pressure on my left chest , over my heart When I alerted the staff, they saud:"It is nothing, waitfor your pills, go to sleep"t made me doubt what (if any) they ;earned in med school. because such chest pain is one of the symptoms of a heart attack. But it coulf not have been one, as my bloodpressure was good (they checked) and my temperature likewise. This morning, much the same.


Frank

donderdag 15 september 2011

This morning

This morning everything went pear-shaped. The staff was supposed to get me out of bed read to be pivked up by Esther ar 08.15. When Esther arrived at that time I was stilll gathering ZZZzzz's. I do not know what went wrong, but neither esther or O could see the humour of it, so off we went. Now I am back in my room,

Greetings
Frank

Dynusars

yesterday evening I watched Planet Sinosaur on BBC 1, followed by Who dou you think you sre. All in all, a good solid nights vieuwing. OnPlanet Dinosaur they showed reconstructions of two nre species, the Spinosaur sn the Carcharedototodonsaurus.A beast 17 metres long and weighing several tonnes! I am glad they ar exrinct by now, because if they were around today, I at most would make a tasty snack fo them. This reminds me of a1930'sboys adventurenovel, called Voyage to Mars I used to have. In it, ouintrepid heros travel to Mars by balloon and find there theremnants of an old civilisation. However, it is beset by wilddinosaurslike I have just described. But men would not be men if they did not remember the fomula for gunpowder.Bye, bye, dino's!
all of this gives me time to wonder: What is it good for? Has anything I have done in my life been worthwhile? I'd like to think severeal thingswere, but I'd like to hear your commrnts. I only hope I have not beenboring evereybody out of their skulls.

In closing:at 4.00 hrs. I will walk again!


Greetings

Frank

woensdag 14 september 2011

TV good, TV bad

Yesterday evening was interesting on T.V. AT 21.00 hrs there was James May's Toy Stories on Discovery, all abot model trains> James wanted to build a midel railway fromBarnstaple to Bridepor and almost succeeeded. To me it was another bout of nostalgia, as I started off with model railways before going on to kits. In all honesty, the most beautiful and impressive model railway I ever saw was the Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg(thanks for the tio, Sef!), This m.orning all there was was that dreary RTL koffietijd, withh thoseoild tarts Loretta Schrijver et al. There also was a soi-disant painter and some goodwill ambassadors of charity. all in all, my mood changed, I felt myself echoing the words ofthe papal legate at the siege ofToulouse:"caedite eos. novit enimDominusqui sun"teius". loosely trandlated:"Kill them all, lrt God sortém out".I got so sick of RTL I turned to JabBlokker's"Het Vooroudergevoel". I blogged about this before: it is a very well written book and it is a joy tonread. I can hearitly recommend it to all my readers.

greetings from Kalorama

historical Frankie

Arnhem weekend request

Coming weekend is the big commemoration of market-gargen. I long to go and attend the ceremonies, but clearly, in a wheelchair I am not getting far. Therefore I would like to ask if somebody can take me there )preferably on Sunday)/ M any thanks in advance

Greetings
sFrank

dinsdag 13 september 2011

Adapting

I am slowly realising what the stroke has done to me. I try to regain as much as I could as possible, withthe help of the staff here at Kalorama.

Greetings


Frank

Tuesday

Yesterday evening was no much, T.Vwise. Howeverthe bbc RODE TO THE RESCUE WITH THE FIRST IN SERIES ABOUT ROYAL PALACES in Britain. This time it was all sbout Buckingham palace. Yhey have a lot of beautiful artworks thereÏt's good to be the queen(with apologies to MelBrooks). Antiques Master was interesting also. this Morning I woke up with a programme about kittes..aaaawwwww....cuuuuute!!!!Happy zFrankie is going for breakfast now

Greetings from me


Frank

maandag 12 september 2011

IT IS MONDAY MORNING

iT ISmONDAY MORNING AND i FEEL PRETTY GOOD BECAUSE i HAVE PLENTY TO reAD:BOOKS, TWO AGAINST the Odds and luckily the latest Vae Victis((number 100!) sadly, it came without a game, but I have plenty to sink my teeeth imto eith the Against the Odds. I feel like I have to write a new artivle for the C.B. NEWSLETTER. iN SHORT, I alwayshave to keeep mysrlf busy. Writing stuff for Marleen is a large part of it. THe readers of the C.B nresletter is abig fanclub of mine and I cannot afford to keep them waiting. Furtermore, eriting gives me the opportunity to pass on all the informaton I gathered over the years.I flatter myself with the thought that somebidy, somewhere down the line will profit from having read my stuff, now, is'nt that arrogace for you? Ot is just my internal history teacher coming out...


Greetings from my bureau..


FRANK WHO IS ON THE VERGE OF MORE WAKING THERAPY.

zaterdag 10 september 2011

amersfoort

i have been to the Ducosim gaming meet inAmersfoort, courtese of Han Heidema , who Picked me uo here and brought me back, and Mathieu de Hingh, who got me back to Kalorama.The hunt was succesful and the gods were pleased(many new games were added to the collection).. i boughtKarelia'44' Jours de GloireCampagne Allemagne 1813' 'the latest C3I abd the lst two Against the Odds, Hungarisan Nightmare en The Lash of the Yurk.met name dat laatste onderwerp interesseert mij zeer:de expansie van de Ottomane! Tot aan Webeb. Veel overgelezebn en gezien. Can' wait to play it.


Content. frank

vrijdag 9 september 2011

Memoriesyesterday I

Yesterday I was watching Megafactoriesin NatGeo TV. It all was about Pierce , anAmerican factorynof big ladder trucks for FireDepartments. It reminded mr I used to have a Dinky Toy of such a truck , and how I did play with it! I remember it stimulated my fantasy, and in my imagination I saw it all happening. The same process takes place in my brain when I am wargaming, which makes sufferingnlosses less attractive. Now you will say:"It is only cardboard and cardboard does not bleed", but Ii have been close to tears when I lost a crucial unit or my ship in W S&IM.oh, well. Itbis one way of stimulating an interest innhistory. Yesterday mothwr lent me another way.:Jan Blokker's Het Vooroudergevoel. I brgan to read itvyesterday and by noew am deep in it. The book is injteresting and well written, to sayvthevvery least.
Thebook was not thebonly hibg mum broughtvyesterday.there also were two herrings, which meantbherring for dinner and breakfast. yYum! Thanks , ma!
In closing a message for Marleen fomk Casus Belli. I do have email now, so stand by for new articles!

A.ontented Frank

woensdag 7 september 2011

Hsd a good Nights sleep. I am looking forward to the herring mother brought yesterday. One bit of good news. It now looks as if Han Heidema will collect me ob Saturday to go to Ducosin in Amersfoort. i am looking foward to it!!

Wargame-writing Frank greets you from behind his computer and should get back to workmon a new articleASAP.

dinsdag 6 september 2011

Waking, morning T. v

After a good nights sleep, dreaming of cats,i awoke and checked animal planet.they had a programme about A merica's Cutest Cats. Th cutest cat was the surprised kitten Attilla. This was followed by cats101 about kittens. My serotonin level went through thevroof thid morning.

Happily purring Frank

maandag 5 september 2011

Visit

Yesterday my sister Marieke came to visit to discuss some financial matters. She brought her son Sef along. sef is doing very well at s.ccer and has been selrcted fo G competition inAmsterdam! I amsef is a delightful nine year old boy and I love seeing him. Marieke had brought an original present fo my fifty fourth birthday: a German desk calendar for 2012 with photo's of cats. lovely, to say the least. Sef and I went out and visited Ginger and together fed Ginge cat bonbons.because Sef has just had his birthday and is saving for an I-psd of his own, I made a nice donation to that goal. It was soooo nice to see Esrher, Marieke and Sef again. I care so much for them.

Greetings fromk my bed

Frank in a fuzzy morning glow.

zondag 4 september 2011

airborne March disaster

Yesterday I went on the Airborne March inOosterbeek with my friebnds louis and Mathieu. We did not even get halfway before things went wrong. InOn a2wooded trackthe left front wheel of my wheeelchair broke. The spokes broke off st the axle a an I could notmove. i Itnymore.it turnsout the whheels were mase ofshoddy plastic instead of metal. Louis and Mathieu and Rense got me to a first aid podst. There I was picked up by a minivan of the Renkum fire department who brought meback to the parking lot where Louis had parked his car. All in all, by 17.0000hrs I was back at Kalorama.
There were severeal light points yesterdy.1)The help by the Renkum Fire Department. my hat is off to them. are truly wonderful professionals.
2) the prsence of Door an Roeland, daughter and son of my friend Louis Kolkman. These are teo delightful kids, and to me it was sheer pleasure to have them around. At times I nnoticed I was wishing they were my kids instrad of Louis'. last week they were active with thr Limburg Gestival in Nijmegen as well. i take great pleasure in lending them my Terry Jones DVD oN the Middle Ages and my Funcken books on the same subject. To me passing on what I have learnt or collected to others who are interested is one of the great plraessures of life (that includes you, Zaagstra!). Ifvthe kids of a good friend can profit by this, I feel so much better and richer!

Greetings fron my room at Kalorama

airborne March disaster

Yesterday I went on the Airborne March inOosterbeek with my friebnds louis and Mathieu. We did not even get halfway before things went wrong. InOn a2wooded trackthe left front wheel of my wheeelchair broke. The spokes broke off st the axle a an I could notmove. i Itnymore.it turnsout the whheels were mase ofshoddy plastic instead of metal. Louis and Mathieu and Rense got me to a first aid podst. There I was picked up by a minivan of the Renkum fire department who brought meback to the parking lot where Louis had parked his car. All in all, by 17.0000hrs I was back at Kalorama.
There were severeal light points yesterdy.1)The help by the Renkum Fire Department. my hat is off to them. are truly wonderful professionals.
2) the prsence of Door an Roeland, daughter and son of my friend Louis Kolkman. These are teo delightful kids, and to me it was sheer pleasure to have them around. At times I nnoticed I was wishing they were my kids instrad of Louis'. last week they were active with thr Limburg Gestival in Nijmegen as well. i take great pleasure in lending them my Terry Jones DVD oN the Middle Ages and my Funcken books on the same subject. To me passing on what I have learnt or collected to others who are interested is one of the great plrasures of life (that includes you, Zaagstra!). Ifvthe kids of a good friend can profit by this, I feel so much better and richer!

Greetings fron my room at Kalorama

zaterdag 3 september 2011

Chasser la misere

Yesterday, to my great joy, Esther brought mr my foWargames Foundry books and a box o Airfix magazines. Enough for a nice evening , comfortably wallowing in nostalgia. Now I am on the verge of going to OOsterbeek. i am curious tosee what it will be luie.

Wallowing nostalgic Frank

vrijdag 2 september 2011

yesterdays TV;this morning

Well, it is September 2, my birthday. I now am fifty-four. Yesterday's TV was interesting. Megafactories was all about Lego. It reminded meof when I was young.I used to make galleys out of Lego and ram them intobeach other. Thenthe crews (Airfix Romans and Ancient Britonds)Britons)would fight it out, usind Don Featherstone's Ancient rules.that is what comes from watching BenHur too much. Blissful memories.this morning I hsd the proverbisl shit, shower and a shave.

ramming speed Frank

donderdag 1 september 2011

Tomorrow 2 september birthday FRANK

Between 14.30-16.30 tea, coffe, cake is served celebrating Franks Birthday,
Welcome if you want,
Esther

Dreamtime

Once moreI dreamt of all the2argames and magazinrs I miss. The list is too long to give itvhere.


.homesick Frank