To say I was disappointed when I saw the proposed theme for August for #hivecollectors, which was presented in her post by 
2026 FIFA World Cup memorabilia
The reason for my disappointment wasn't just that I don't have a single memento to remind me of the recently concluded World Cup, but that the theme reminded me of fooball.
The most important thing in the world - Football (or Soccer what do they call it in the USA).
The reason we used to greet every sports weekend with excitement and could hardly wait to get to the stands, where we would enjoy watching our heroes on the freshly mown grass, at some point became repulsive to me.
I even coached footbqll for a short period in my youth (I could write my memoirs about that), and I regularly went to the stands, first with my uncle to the west stand, where we sat in chairs (because I was little), and later as a teenager and young man, to the north stand, from where I cheered my team on from my feet.
Many years have passed since then.
The stands are no longer filled with fathers with small children.
There, the fan leaders have become the leaders of a lawless group of people, often with criminal records.
When football was shamefully dragged into politics and matches stopped being sporting events where the better team wins, and instead became well-staged shows, I returned my season ticket.
I refused to be a mere extra in the stands, to be kept content by those in power with cheap food and entertainment, using the tried-and-true ancient Roman recipe of “Panem et circenses” (Bread and circuses), By applying the political strategy of the authorities, who keep the masses content with cheap food and entertainment to distract them from real problems, political lack of freedom, and poor state management.
I returned my season ticket and stopped following football.
Sometimes I'd watch a match from the Premier League, LaLiga, Serie A or the Bundesliga with friends over beers and peanuts, but the recently concluded World Cup left a bitter taste in my mouth again, a taste of the “bread” served alongside the “circuses.”
This year's World Cup?
The blatant debacle with the referees and the open favoritism towards certain national teams simply removed the last shred of a mask from that overpriced, corrupt spectacle created to keep the masses half-asleep.
The average ticket price for the final, at 7,000 or 8,000 euros, in these times of war, suffering, and shortages, is truly surreal.
The game that the common people once enjoyed has now become a privilege for the wealthy, politicians, and shady fan organizations.
And that's why I wasn't interested in this World Cup.
I didn't watch the matches (maybe just two or three, the third-place match and the final), I didn't follow the results or bet, and I didn't collect soccer player trading cards for an album, like I did when I was much younger (and I have a story about those 1982 World Cup cards from Spain that I'll share with you sometime...).
And that's why I don't have a single item from WC2026 to present in the August Hive collection theme.
But while reading
My Collection of Mugs
I'll divide the mug collection into “shared” ones, which we have in the office at work where each of us has our own, as well as a part of the collection I have at home that are tied to some nice and interesting moments and memories.
We have hundreds of mugs in the office. We have them drying, in the drawers, in the dishwasher, and on the shelves.
They're mostly promotional mugs, but there are exceptions—some funny ones with more interesting comments and messages.
Someone who talks too loudly got this mug from a coworker at the next desk:
I'm not yelling, I'm just talking
A nice, attractive coworker, from a coworker who likes her, got this one:
And a coworker, who is 5 months older than me, for her 50th birthday, got this one with a funny comment:
My work mug, which I got from a colleague a few years ago, maybe it illustrates what kind of a colleague I am in the eyes of others? Danger! Dangerous at work.
Although I think the colleague who chose this mug for me had in mind how dangerous I am (a scientist and an expert). in the line of work I'm in.
I use that mug every day, and during the Christmas and New Year's holidays, I use this one with Santa Claus details for tea, which I got from a colleague from another department in another city.
And of the mugs we have at home, I'll just show you a few that have an interesting story.
These two with Minnie and Mickey Mouse, we got from friends when we started living together in our new apartment.
The perfect mugs for the occasion.
This miniature one, I'll call a cup, even though it doesn't really look like one 🙂
It wasn't bought as a souvenir from Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic, but as a cup to drink water from the spring in the spa.
And whether I wanted it to or not, it became a travel souvenir that sits on the shelf of our display case.
As a contrast to this little one, I also have a much larger one, which I love to drink cold lemonade from on hot summer days when I need a lot of fluids.
Last year, for my birthday, I got this black one.
I didn't get the point until I started using it for tea.
It's a personalized mug; my name is inscribed on the bottom, and the theme is from my favorite movie trilogy, The Lord of the Rings.
And last, I present this one from the Balbelo collection (dedicated to Đorđe Balasević), which I bought at the concert held on Bogojavljenska night, January 19, 2020, at the Spens Hall in Novi Sad.
At the concert, he was accompanied by his orchestra, Cirkus Balbelo, and it was the penultimate concert that Đorđe performed before the start of the coronavirus pandemic and before his death, just a year later.
I look at the salt, read the lyric on it, it's from one of my favorite songs, which I'm now sharing here with you.
Because, if you understand the language Djordje sings in, I believe you've had a chance to hear it and will enjoy listening to it again.
And so, with the sounds of this wonderful song, I'm ending my post on the August theme, where you might have expected some footage from the World Cup stands...
But, since I stopped going to soccer games because I'm not a hooligan or a member of any fan groups (and I didn't have the chance to go to the USA, Canada, or Mexico in June and July of this year), now I listen to and sing lyrics like these, not the songs of my former favorite soccer club, which I sang in the north stand of the Marakana until the beginning of the 21st century.
