(Alternate titles: An Accident's Just A Friend You Haven't Finished Off; Accident Shmaccident--You're Dead, Whittington!)
Furthering solidifying his position as "so evil he's just got to be a movie villain," Dick Cheney went positively Wedding Crashers on a 70 year old man Saturday (click here for article).
Yes, that's right: according to BBC News, during a quail hunting expedition, Cheney "had turned round to shoot at a bird but sprayed Mr Whittington with shotgun pellets instead." Instead of the fleshy buttocks, however, Cheney went straight for the jugular, hitting his victim in the "in the cheek, neck and chest."
What set him off? Was it an insult to his ridiculous attire? Perhaps Mr. Whittington had expressed having a problem with Cheney's general attitude toward everybody here and in Iraq.
Whatever the provocation, one thing is certain: Cheney will not rest until his prey's head hangs from his wall. "The Whittington clan is overpopulated in this country and they're decimating the grubworm population," raved Cheney, flailing his shotgun around as if to indicate that the power of Christ was compelling him.
Mr. Whittington "is said to be 'alert and doing fine' in hospital," and in fact could not stop flinching and mumbling about his credentials. "I-I-I'm allowed to b-be here; I didn't...I've never, I-I've never given a fake n-name i-in my life."
When asked to comment on the actions of his second in command, an excited President Bush stammered, "Yeah, ah, ah love that scene when Dick was throwin' up in the toilet, and he told that Claire, he tells that girl to go get him some 7-Up, 'cause he's about to get invulnerable agin'!"
"The local sheriff's department is investigating the incident," reports BBC News, but then again, the local branch of Haliburton received a grant from the government to rebuild Cheney's shattered alibi, creating a potential roadblock to the capture and incarceration of Public Enemy #2.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Friday, February 10, 2006
Torn
I'm torn over the ridiculous, absurd, despicable response in the Islamic world to the printing of "offensive" comics in Danish newspapers. I want to decry it--and I do decry it. But every time I go to condemn Islam, I find myself needing to balance it out by condemning the Christian world as well. I mean, we think of them as insane, and they are, but so are so many Christians. Case in point: George God-Also-Speaks-To-Me-In-The-Form-Of-A-Burning-Bush. I mean, what's the point in tearing down one religion, when that only makes me look as if I'm supporting the other? I want to tear them all down. If money is the root of all evil, perhaps organized religion is the parasitic vine that grows around the tree, wrapping itself tightly around the tree, throttling it, in the name of crushing the life out of the evil tree, all the while crushing the life out of all other trees too, good or evil. Feeding from the same source that feeds the evil money root. Then again, perhaps this analogy is out of control. When I don't take my pills, I tend to get cranky, and religion tends to irk me the most. And since I don't actually take pills, it's like religion is constantly a bad thing. Oops, I should rephrase that to show that I'M the one with the problem, not religion. I must need to reevaluate the positives in my life and see if they match up with causing negatives in other people's lives. Either that or I must need a new doctor, one with a free-wheeling pill supply.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Iconic
If you've got any German blood running through your veins, you've always felt a strange tugging at your gut at any sighting, or even mention, of David Hasselhoff. You know Germans love this guy, but do you really understand why? In the ongoing interest of explaining this phenomenon, here is another example of why he is worthy of an entire country's adulation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi2CfuqcUGE
Didn't even have to take his shirt off for that one.
In other news, I wonder who invented homework. His legacy is killing me, which is what I would have done to him if I had heard that pitch: "Let's make the children take this stuff home and do it on their own time, because I really need a smoke." Jerk. I don't have class on Wednesdays or Fridays, so if I can get a handle on this "managing my time" business, I might just make it. If not, I guess I can move to Germany, adopt a dog, and get paid by the government to live on the street. Doesn't seem that tough, if you don't mind fleas and freezing in the winter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi2CfuqcUGE
Didn't even have to take his shirt off for that one.
In other news, I wonder who invented homework. His legacy is killing me, which is what I would have done to him if I had heard that pitch: "Let's make the children take this stuff home and do it on their own time, because I really need a smoke." Jerk. I don't have class on Wednesdays or Fridays, so if I can get a handle on this "managing my time" business, I might just make it. If not, I guess I can move to Germany, adopt a dog, and get paid by the government to live on the street. Doesn't seem that tough, if you don't mind fleas and freezing in the winter.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Praise For My Blog
Some high profile celebrities have been singing the praises of this blog and, well, other stuff:
"Billy Jean is not my lover, and neither is Adam Callaghan--but then again, I always say look for the good inside a person, and Adam Callaghan is still a kid at heart, an adorable little boy at heart, a luscious, beautiful little boy at heart oh my Godcalmdown.......which explains not only why his blog is fantastic, but also why I find myself developing an unhealthy attraction to him, making an Adam Callaghan hair doll, and receiving an Adam Callaghan restraining order from the powers-that-be. Fight the powers!" - Michael Jackson
"I really respect Adam Callaghan's never-say-die, take-no-prisoners style of cat grooming, but I feel that his writing is lacking in...well, let's call it "quality." I mean, my cat has never before been so spiffy clean, but the free grooming was not worth promising to tell all my friends about his blog. Gosh, what was I thinking? I mean, let's be serious, I don't need my cat groomed for free; 45 year old women pay me good money to sign their chests all the time." - John Mayer
"Billy Jean is not my lover, and neither is Adam Callaghan--but then again, I always say look for the good inside a person, and Adam Callaghan is still a kid at heart, an adorable little boy at heart, a luscious, beautiful little boy at heart oh my Godcalmdown.......which explains not only why his blog is fantastic, but also why I find myself developing an unhealthy attraction to him, making an Adam Callaghan hair doll, and receiving an Adam Callaghan restraining order from the powers-that-be. Fight the powers!" - Michael Jackson
"I really respect Adam Callaghan's never-say-die, take-no-prisoners style of cat grooming, but I feel that his writing is lacking in...well, let's call it "quality." I mean, my cat has never before been so spiffy clean, but the free grooming was not worth promising to tell all my friends about his blog. Gosh, what was I thinking? I mean, let's be serious, I don't need my cat groomed for free; 45 year old women pay me good money to sign their chests all the time." - John Mayer
Monday, January 16, 2006
The Naked Truth
I went shopping today with my mom. We had a fairly productive day: a winter jacket, a belt (reversible!), and a pair of running shoes. I despise shopping though, especially for shoes. I realized when I was in Germany that I could really use a pair of dress-casual shoes, since cross-trainers didn't cut it at some of the nicer places, plus it's a lot easier to look nice no matter what you're wearing if you've got dress-casual shoes instead of sneakers. But, while it's hard to find size 14 sneakers, it seems to be impossible to find size 14 casual shoes. I pointed out that apparently tall people aren't supposed to dress nicely, but my mother wouldn't accept that; No, she reminded me, tall people apparently aren't supposed to dress at all. Yes, the bright side of the issue is that it's not just shoes that are hard to find, it's everything, when you're tall. Sweet bright side.
On the actual bright side of things, when some movers took my sister's old desk and bureau out of her room the other day, I found buried treasure: a Dumb and Dumber pog. Yes, that's right, a Dumb and Dumber POG. No, stop, please...it's not for sale. It's a keeper.
On the actual bright side of things, when some movers took my sister's old desk and bureau out of her room the other day, I found buried treasure: a Dumb and Dumber pog. Yes, that's right, a Dumb and Dumber POG. No, stop, please...it's not for sale. It's a keeper.
Friday, January 13, 2006
Back In The U.S.S.....A
Greetings from Maine. Yeah, after about 5 months I'm home. The trip (the traveling home, I mean, not the entire German trip thing) was long and, let's be honest, sucky. It was over 30 hours of being awake and traveling. The worst was Basel, Switzerland. Basel is close to Freiburg, really close, so I figured it would be a good place to fly out of...but that was when I thought I was leaving Dec. 18, from Freiburg. I was flying out at 6 AM. I had to take a train that arrived there at 12:00 AM. Have you ever spent the night alone in an airport? Don't. I don't recommend it. Airports at night are huge, dark, and eerie. If you really need a place to rob somebody, the airport at like 1 AM should be right up your alley. You'll find 1 or 2 suckers like me, sitting in a chair with 2 bags under my chair and between my legs, with my suitcase standing up next to me as I try to rest my head on it and catch roughly 10 minutes of sleep per hour. Lame.
So finally I'm able to fly out of Basel, aaand...it's a 30 minute flight to Zurich. That's right, a half hour flight to Zurich, where I proceed to wait for almost 7 more hours. Zurich was closer to me by train than Basel was--where's the justice in that? Finally I fly from Zurich to Boston, a lovely 8 hour flight. I had my first airplane alcohol--one of those little bottles of wine. It wasn't as exciting as I would have expected, and I really couldn't understand why, on a SWISS Air flight, the only beer was Heineken and the only wine was Californian. There was also at one point a meal served that was basically a large hot pocket. The package told me it was made in Italy. My instinct (and tastebuds) told me it was a Nike factory in Taiwan.
But enough about airline food. My mom picked me up in Boston and brought me home to some great belated Christmas gifts, which it turns out were just to soften the blow of the 8 AM dentist appointment the next day. So anyway, by now hopefully my negativity has plunged you into depression, and because I'm still jetlagged, I don't feel like raising your spirits by talking about positive things, so I'll call it a night. Tune in next time, when I may slip up and write about things that I actually enjoy/ed.
So finally I'm able to fly out of Basel, aaand...it's a 30 minute flight to Zurich. That's right, a half hour flight to Zurich, where I proceed to wait for almost 7 more hours. Zurich was closer to me by train than Basel was--where's the justice in that? Finally I fly from Zurich to Boston, a lovely 8 hour flight. I had my first airplane alcohol--one of those little bottles of wine. It wasn't as exciting as I would have expected, and I really couldn't understand why, on a SWISS Air flight, the only beer was Heineken and the only wine was Californian. There was also at one point a meal served that was basically a large hot pocket. The package told me it was made in Italy. My instinct (and tastebuds) told me it was a Nike factory in Taiwan.
But enough about airline food. My mom picked me up in Boston and brought me home to some great belated Christmas gifts, which it turns out were just to soften the blow of the 8 AM dentist appointment the next day. So anyway, by now hopefully my negativity has plunged you into depression, and because I'm still jetlagged, I don't feel like raising your spirits by talking about positive things, so I'll call it a night. Tune in next time, when I may slip up and write about things that I actually enjoy/ed.
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Kleine Kinder Kacke, So Zu Sagen
That's a direct quote from a German soccer player, basically "little kid's crap, so to say," describing his and the opposing team's goalie's behavior during the game. They were arguing, and one of them jerked his head a little bit for unknown reasons, but then they both fell to the ground holding their faces, pretending they had been head-butted. It was awesome, especially since one got a yellow card and the other got a red card. The one with the red card had to leave the game of course, and this was just before a shoot-out, which meant a normal field player had to step in as goalie...and he still managed to help his team win. Fußball rules.
In other kleine Kinder news, little 3 and a half year old godchild Lenjo was telling his father and I the other day about me being at their house, and I shall paraphrase: one day I was suddenly gone (that was in August), and he didn't see me for a little while, and then one day I was just there again (about a week ago), and he just didn't notice me because he was looking down and must not have thought to look up high enough. End paraphrase. It's funnier to hear it from the small German child's mouth, considering how earnest he was about not noticing me because he didn't think to look up, but how often do you get that opportunity anyway? He also regaled us with the story of how he used to say my name as "Äbäm" but can now say it the German way of "Ädäm." Of course, if you don't speak or read any German, you won't know how to say either Äbäm or Ädäm, but imagine saying the American name "Evan" but with a "b" or "d" in place of the "v," and an "m" in place of the "n," and you'll basically have it. Lesson complete.
Merry belated Christmas and frohe Weihnachten and so forth, and here's looking forward to a happy Sylvester as well, which you'll of course recognize as the Looney Tunes cat whose comical lisp (what cruel person invented the word lisp?) allows us to enjoy the fact that he always gets the stuffing knocked out of him when he attempts to eat adorable Tweety Bird. You also might recognize it as the time in life when a giant ball slowly drops from the sky, people all over whatever time zone chant numbers together, and the hopeful and the misguided make resolutions that are supposed to last 356 days but instead last for 356 minutes: New Year's. Being in Germany, I'll of course receive my new year 8 hours before most of the people I know, and even 9 or 10 hours ahead of those unfortunates toward the middle or west of America. I'm not sure if the telephones will work--I've never been able to phone back in time before, so I doubt you'd be able to hear me from the year 2006. But if I can somehow send a message all the way back to 2005, I'll see what I can do--you'll no doubt want to hear if 2006 is worth it, because everyone hates surprises, which is why we all tell each other what we want for Christmas and have a phrase about "upsetting the balance of things." That'th all for now, folkth.
In other kleine Kinder news, little 3 and a half year old godchild Lenjo was telling his father and I the other day about me being at their house, and I shall paraphrase: one day I was suddenly gone (that was in August), and he didn't see me for a little while, and then one day I was just there again (about a week ago), and he just didn't notice me because he was looking down and must not have thought to look up high enough. End paraphrase. It's funnier to hear it from the small German child's mouth, considering how earnest he was about not noticing me because he didn't think to look up, but how often do you get that opportunity anyway? He also regaled us with the story of how he used to say my name as "Äbäm" but can now say it the German way of "Ädäm." Of course, if you don't speak or read any German, you won't know how to say either Äbäm or Ädäm, but imagine saying the American name "Evan" but with a "b" or "d" in place of the "v," and an "m" in place of the "n," and you'll basically have it. Lesson complete.
Merry belated Christmas and frohe Weihnachten and so forth, and here's looking forward to a happy Sylvester as well, which you'll of course recognize as the Looney Tunes cat whose comical lisp (what cruel person invented the word lisp?) allows us to enjoy the fact that he always gets the stuffing knocked out of him when he attempts to eat adorable Tweety Bird. You also might recognize it as the time in life when a giant ball slowly drops from the sky, people all over whatever time zone chant numbers together, and the hopeful and the misguided make resolutions that are supposed to last 356 days but instead last for 356 minutes: New Year's. Being in Germany, I'll of course receive my new year 8 hours before most of the people I know, and even 9 or 10 hours ahead of those unfortunates toward the middle or west of America. I'm not sure if the telephones will work--I've never been able to phone back in time before, so I doubt you'd be able to hear me from the year 2006. But if I can somehow send a message all the way back to 2005, I'll see what I can do--you'll no doubt want to hear if 2006 is worth it, because everyone hates surprises, which is why we all tell each other what we want for Christmas and have a phrase about "upsetting the balance of things." That'th all for now, folkth.
Monday, December 19, 2005
Winter in Deutschland
So you're saying it's been about a month since I last posted. Well here I am again, in case anybody else is still here too. Finally finished my semester in Freiburg on Thursday, and left on Friday...although "finished" is a tricky word, since I actually still have one short paper to write in the next few days, haaaa ha crap. All in all it was amazing, I can't really believe it's over, which is helped by the fact that I'm staying in Germany until Jan. 11 now. I'm at Thorlef and Brigitte's house, arrived on Friday, and I'll be here for a couple more days probably, before I go to Britta and Wolfgang's for Christmas and perhaps New Year's.
I'm really lucky I get to stay longer--I don't think I would have been able to go straight home, it would be such a shock to the system. Now I get to just absolutely relax (well, except for the babysitting hundreds of little kids part, but I enjoy that too), drink lots of wine and Schnappes, and speak more German. It's nice to actually be able to do that now, whereas at the beginning all of my relatives were pretty much forced to speak English with me. It's good to see relatives again, too, and I'm seeing more than before--Michael and LaNon and their 4 and a half kids were here from Saturday to Sunday, I hadn't seen them for 6 years. And then I have plenty more time, so I'll hopefully see others at some point.
And this is my first time seeing such familiar places in the Winter--Thorlef and Brigitte's is beautiful in this season too, with a dusting of snow, especially when viewed through the glass-wall from the comfort of the hot tub. We've gotten a lot of snow recently, but the ground's still too warm, so it hasn't stuck. They took me to a classical music concert last night in Frankfurt, which was really cool.
I'm gonna go for now, but enjoy the last few hectic, ridiculous days leading up to Christmas.
I'm really lucky I get to stay longer--I don't think I would have been able to go straight home, it would be such a shock to the system. Now I get to just absolutely relax (well, except for the babysitting hundreds of little kids part, but I enjoy that too), drink lots of wine and Schnappes, and speak more German. It's nice to actually be able to do that now, whereas at the beginning all of my relatives were pretty much forced to speak English with me. It's good to see relatives again, too, and I'm seeing more than before--Michael and LaNon and their 4 and a half kids were here from Saturday to Sunday, I hadn't seen them for 6 years. And then I have plenty more time, so I'll hopefully see others at some point.
And this is my first time seeing such familiar places in the Winter--Thorlef and Brigitte's is beautiful in this season too, with a dusting of snow, especially when viewed through the glass-wall from the comfort of the hot tub. We've gotten a lot of snow recently, but the ground's still too warm, so it hasn't stuck. They took me to a classical music concert last night in Frankfurt, which was really cool.
I'm gonna go for now, but enjoy the last few hectic, ridiculous days leading up to Christmas.
Monday, November 21, 2005
Lange Zeit, Nicht Sehen
Hey there. Been a while. What's been up? Oh ya know, same ol'. Tough week last week, then Basel, Switzerland Thursday night for a play, and then I missed my flight to London Friday >:\ Of course, on the plus side, I woke up to realize I had missed my trains, but then later (after having run/powerwalked like half an hour to the train station to find out I couldn't make it to the airport in time anyway), I realized that I was still in Germany, so I could deal with it. I was sad not to get to visit Meredith though. She's coming in a couple of weekends, so all is not lost. Anyway, I had a fairly relaxing weekend here in Freiburg. Alex and I took it easy Friday and then painted the town sort of a light red Saturday night.
The Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market) opened up today, which is awesome. Yeah, it's really early for that, but oh well. Got a couple glasses of Glühwein (mulled wine); also saved some on my sweatshirt. It was tasty, and also stains easily. Hopefully going to a place called Oma's Kuche (Grandma's Kitchen!) tonight for live jazz, which should be far out, man.
I dunno what else to say right now--I'm kind of passing out at the computer, but I've got class in less than 2 hours, so I can't really go home. I guess I'll fool myself into thinking I might do some work. Maybe new pics sometime this week. Au revoir.
The Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market) opened up today, which is awesome. Yeah, it's really early for that, but oh well. Got a couple glasses of Glühwein (mulled wine); also saved some on my sweatshirt. It was tasty, and also stains easily. Hopefully going to a place called Oma's Kuche (Grandma's Kitchen!) tonight for live jazz, which should be far out, man.
I dunno what else to say right now--I'm kind of passing out at the computer, but I've got class in less than 2 hours, so I can't really go home. I guess I'll fool myself into thinking I might do some work. Maybe new pics sometime this week. Au revoir.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Once Again, Pics
And by Once Again, Pics, I of course mean Once Again, I have forgotten to mention that I posted new Pics. You've already seen the coolest one, but go peep the rest as well. Goodbye, cool world.
Davy, Davy Crocket
...King of the wild frontiiiiiier. That song got stuck in my head randomly, so I hope now it transfers to your head instead. That way you can have a cool song playing in your head while you check out my cool pics from this weekend. You should also check out this hilarious Bill that Idaho wants to pass, commending the creators of Napoleon Dynamite for making it in Idaho and increasing tourism and so forth (Thanks to Maddox's Best Page in the Universe for bringing it to the attention of the world at large). I don't have much else to say at the moment, which is why I'm gonna stop now and simply allow you to contemplate the incredible picture above, the greatest Coffeshop in Amsterdam.
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Amsterdamncool
As usual, I'm alive. Don't underestimate my ability to live. Brian and I had a pretty sweet road trip this weekend. I won't go into how many times we were lost, whether it was on the highway, in a foreign city, or just right outside of Freiburg. We made it to the Netherlands Thursday night, but it was very late and we crashed at a rest stop just after crossing the border. Yes, we slept in the car--the seats actually leaned back to basically horizontal, so it was alright. I mean, I wouldn't choose a car over a bed, but sometimes beds can't get you everywhere you need to go.
Friday we got to Amsterdam. How come nobody ever talks about the awesomeness of Amsterdam, outside of the puff-puff stuff? We spent 8 hours wandering around this very confusing and absolutely wonderful city, and it has other charms too. I think the coolest part has to be all the canals--every street is separated from the next by a canal, basically, and it makes for great atmostphere. The Red Light District was crazy--I guess I'm not a huge fan of girls behind glass. Anyway, even if you're planning to stay off the grass and not stop for red lights, I recommend going to Amsterdam sometime in your life.
We drove a bit out of the city and slept in the car again that night. Saturday we decided to go to Brussels--we wanted to get Belgian waffles in Belgium, and Belgium's not huge, so we figured we might as well go straight to the source. We saw some cool stuff, although we were in a lame part of town for a while, but once we found the city center, Brussels bloomed. It's a gorgeous city, and I must say, Belgian waffles in Belgium are some of the most delicious things I've ever eaten. If we had stayed any longer, I would have been broke and fat. They also have a lot of great beer.
After we left Brussels, we were just sort of driving in the direction of Luxembourg and Germany. We were passing a town called Namur, so we figured we'd stop and check out a city no one would ever plan to visit, since we had the car anyway. It turned out to be really cool too--there was a huuge citadel overlooking the city, and because it was nighttime we got to look out over all the city lights. Also, one part of town is basically like stepping into the 18th century.
We left Namur, and were driving through Luxembourg--we didn't stop, since it was night and we probably wouldn't have had much to do, but at least I've been to Luxembourg now, sort of. They actually speak Luxembourgish there, in case you were wondering. So we're driving, and we're trying to figure out what to do, and we're really wishing we could sleep in a bed at this point. Well, 2 beds preferably, but when you've slept in a car for 2 nights, you don't get picky about bed mates. So we were east of Darmstadt and Seeheim, and I called up Thorlef and Brigitte to see if we could intrude upon them. Naturally, they said yes, and we got there at about 1:30 AM--they were sleeping by then, but had made beds for us. Oh, glorious bed! We spent the next day eating and relaxing mostly, and we also checked out Castle Frankenstein, although we couldn't go all the way inside, unfortunately. All in all, it was a magnificent end to a crazy weekend.
Gotta go see a play tonight--Die Marquise von O... (The Marquise from O...). Erin and I had to do a presentation on it yesterday, we're seeing it in town tonight, and then Thursday we have to talk about it a bit more. It was pretty funny cuz my professor, who's the man anyway, was so pumped after our presentation. He told me it makes him so happy when I talk, and that I'm so important to the class. There are only 8 of us, and often I'm pretty tired by 6:00 PM, after 2 or 3 other classes, and he said he thinks when I'm slouching off, it brings the whole class down. It's nice to feel appreciated. Oh and it's been a while now, but I never mentioned what I was for Halloween I don't think--I was Tom Cruise from Risky Business. If you've seen the movie, you know the scene, and if you haven't, you might still know the scene, where he's home alone, so he puts on some music and comes out dancing in just some tall socks, underwear, a tie, an unbuttoned button-up shirt, and sunglasses. Not the most original costume, but it was nice and simple. What were you guys? Tell me, and show me pictures if you have them, I wanna see that stuff. Bye bye.
Friday we got to Amsterdam. How come nobody ever talks about the awesomeness of Amsterdam, outside of the puff-puff stuff? We spent 8 hours wandering around this very confusing and absolutely wonderful city, and it has other charms too. I think the coolest part has to be all the canals--every street is separated from the next by a canal, basically, and it makes for great atmostphere. The Red Light District was crazy--I guess I'm not a huge fan of girls behind glass. Anyway, even if you're planning to stay off the grass and not stop for red lights, I recommend going to Amsterdam sometime in your life.
We drove a bit out of the city and slept in the car again that night. Saturday we decided to go to Brussels--we wanted to get Belgian waffles in Belgium, and Belgium's not huge, so we figured we might as well go straight to the source. We saw some cool stuff, although we were in a lame part of town for a while, but once we found the city center, Brussels bloomed. It's a gorgeous city, and I must say, Belgian waffles in Belgium are some of the most delicious things I've ever eaten. If we had stayed any longer, I would have been broke and fat. They also have a lot of great beer.
After we left Brussels, we were just sort of driving in the direction of Luxembourg and Germany. We were passing a town called Namur, so we figured we'd stop and check out a city no one would ever plan to visit, since we had the car anyway. It turned out to be really cool too--there was a huuge citadel overlooking the city, and because it was nighttime we got to look out over all the city lights. Also, one part of town is basically like stepping into the 18th century.
We left Namur, and were driving through Luxembourg--we didn't stop, since it was night and we probably wouldn't have had much to do, but at least I've been to Luxembourg now, sort of. They actually speak Luxembourgish there, in case you were wondering. So we're driving, and we're trying to figure out what to do, and we're really wishing we could sleep in a bed at this point. Well, 2 beds preferably, but when you've slept in a car for 2 nights, you don't get picky about bed mates. So we were east of Darmstadt and Seeheim, and I called up Thorlef and Brigitte to see if we could intrude upon them. Naturally, they said yes, and we got there at about 1:30 AM--they were sleeping by then, but had made beds for us. Oh, glorious bed! We spent the next day eating and relaxing mostly, and we also checked out Castle Frankenstein, although we couldn't go all the way inside, unfortunately. All in all, it was a magnificent end to a crazy weekend.
Gotta go see a play tonight--Die Marquise von O... (The Marquise from O...). Erin and I had to do a presentation on it yesterday, we're seeing it in town tonight, and then Thursday we have to talk about it a bit more. It was pretty funny cuz my professor, who's the man anyway, was so pumped after our presentation. He told me it makes him so happy when I talk, and that I'm so important to the class. There are only 8 of us, and often I'm pretty tired by 6:00 PM, after 2 or 3 other classes, and he said he thinks when I'm slouching off, it brings the whole class down. It's nice to feel appreciated. Oh and it's been a while now, but I never mentioned what I was for Halloween I don't think--I was Tom Cruise from Risky Business. If you've seen the movie, you know the scene, and if you haven't, you might still know the scene, where he's home alone, so he puts on some music and comes out dancing in just some tall socks, underwear, a tie, an unbuttoned button-up shirt, and sunglasses. Not the most original costume, but it was nice and simple. What were you guys? Tell me, and show me pictures if you have them, I wanna see that stuff. Bye bye.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Say Cheese And Die
Yeah, that's an R. L. Stein, Goosebumps reference. And here are the new cats my parents ordered through a Russian Mail-Order Feline Friend Service. This gray guy is Higgins, and the orangey one is Roebuck, or Bucky. I didn't get to help pick the names, so direct your complaints to them! Or compliments, if you can think of any. Now go and check out my new pics: http://community.webshots.com/user/bleibcool. But don't forget to check out the previous post if you haven't, that's important stuff too.
So it's official: Brian and I rented a car. We're picking it up tomorrow, going to Amsterdam tomorrow night, and coming back Sunday. Yeeeehawww!
Important Outrage
I'll be posting some pics later I think, but for now just some important news. The following was written by Dan Savage, a gay man who routinely encourages both gays and straights to fight for their rights, in his Savage Love column (well, he also routinely answers totally bizzaro questions). I thought I'd copy and paste it here too (in its entirety, with only a couple of words bleeped out for the younger crowd), especially considering I know how some of you (read: Mom and Alena) love Target. Turns out you shouldn't.
"There were two disturbing developments in the battle over straight rights last week. First, we know that Target fills its ads with dancing, multi-culti hipsters giving off a tolerant, urbanist vibe, and runs hipster-heavy ad campaigns positioning Target as a slightly more expensive, more progressive alternative to Wal-Mart. Well, as John Aravosis revealed on americablog.org last week, Target's politics are as red as their bulls-eye logo. The chain allows its pharmacists to refuse to dispense birth control and emergency contraception to female customers if the pharmacist objects on religious grounds. What's worse, the company claims that any of its employees have a right to discriminate against any of its customers provided the discrimination is motivated by an employee's religious beliefs. Read all about it at americablog.org and plannedparenthood.org.
Second, more troubling news from Tucson, Arizona, where a 20-year-old rape victim called dozens of pharmacies in town before she found one that stocked emergency contraception (EC). "When she finally did find a pharmacy with it, she said she was told the pharmacist on duty would not dispense it because of religious and moral objections," reported the Arizona Daily Star. Emergency contraception, the story continued, "prevents pregnancy by stopping ovulation, fertilization, or implantation of a fertilized egg. The sooner the emergency contraception is taken after intercourse, the more effective it is."
Don't just sit there, heteros. Defend your rights! Don't shop at Target, and write 'em and tell them why you're going elsewhere. (Go to target.com and click on "contact us," then "Target Corporation.") As for Fry's Pharmacy in Tucson, the shop that wouldn't dispense EC to a freakin' rape victim, the fundamentalist pharmacist claims it's her "right" to not do her f$$$$$$ job. Well, you have a right to free speech. Call Fry's at 520-323-2695 and ask them why the f$$$ a pharmacy that won't dispense EC keeps the drug in stock. Do they do it just to torment rape victims? ("Oh yeah, we've got EC—but you can't have any. Don't you know that Jesus wants you to bear your rapist's child?") Rise up, straight people, and demand your rights!"
"There were two disturbing developments in the battle over straight rights last week. First, we know that Target fills its ads with dancing, multi-culti hipsters giving off a tolerant, urbanist vibe, and runs hipster-heavy ad campaigns positioning Target as a slightly more expensive, more progressive alternative to Wal-Mart. Well, as John Aravosis revealed on americablog.org last week, Target's politics are as red as their bulls-eye logo. The chain allows its pharmacists to refuse to dispense birth control and emergency contraception to female customers if the pharmacist objects on religious grounds. What's worse, the company claims that any of its employees have a right to discriminate against any of its customers provided the discrimination is motivated by an employee's religious beliefs. Read all about it at americablog.org and plannedparenthood.org.
Second, more troubling news from Tucson, Arizona, where a 20-year-old rape victim called dozens of pharmacies in town before she found one that stocked emergency contraception (EC). "When she finally did find a pharmacy with it, she said she was told the pharmacist on duty would not dispense it because of religious and moral objections," reported the Arizona Daily Star. Emergency contraception, the story continued, "prevents pregnancy by stopping ovulation, fertilization, or implantation of a fertilized egg. The sooner the emergency contraception is taken after intercourse, the more effective it is."
Don't just sit there, heteros. Defend your rights! Don't shop at Target, and write 'em and tell them why you're going elsewhere. (Go to target.com and click on "contact us," then "Target Corporation.") As for Fry's Pharmacy in Tucson, the shop that wouldn't dispense EC to a freakin' rape victim, the fundamentalist pharmacist claims it's her "right" to not do her f$$$$$$ job. Well, you have a right to free speech. Call Fry's at 520-323-2695 and ask them why the f$$$ a pharmacy that won't dispense EC keeps the drug in stock. Do they do it just to torment rape victims? ("Oh yeah, we've got EC—but you can't have any. Don't you know that Jesus wants you to bear your rapist's child?") Rise up, straight people, and demand your rights!"
Friday, October 28, 2005
Am I Talking To Myself?
If there's anybody still reading this thing, you don't understand participatory exercises. If there's nobody reading this anymore, I'm officially a high school chemisty textbook, but with fewer questionable stains on my pages (I've got my share of stains, I just usually know what they're from). No offense to my parents, but if I wanted to talk to them and only them, I could just email. If you're out there, question authority, chase squirrels, and post comments for me. Especially Halloween related comments, Halloween rules.
Amsterdam didn't work out for this weekend, so we're gonna go next weekend instead, hopefully with a rented car. Adventure, excitement, Autobahns! Stay tuned.
Amsterdam didn't work out for this weekend, so we're gonna go next weekend instead, hopefully with a rented car. Adventure, excitement, Autobahns! Stay tuned.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like krismis...
(Warning: if you don't care at all about hip hop music or me ranting about the state of the music industry, skip to the bottom for a more interesting discussion of Halloween, it'll be fun.) Well, it's not really, since the weather's awesome, and it's still Oktober. But then again, I might be Santa for Halloween (and to make sense of me being the skinniest Santa ever, some girl should be my wife and keep telling me to "Eat...Eeeeeeat!"), so that sorta made me think of it. My parents are always complaining that I don't give them ideas for gifts, or not in time, or something, so here's a couple small ones to start with. Anyone else who likes music (well, hip hop music) should consider these too:
Blackalicious - The Craft
Danger Doom - The Mouse and the Mask
Atmosphere - You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having
These are three recently released hip hop albums. Blackalicious is probably my favorite group, already having two flawless albums out there, and being the best live act I've ever seen (3 times!) Danger Doom is a team-up of Danger Mouse, the guy who gave us the incredible Gray Album (the mash-up of The Beatles' White Album and Jay-Z's Black Album), and M.F. Doom, from whom I've only heard a few things, but who puts out consistently praised, intelligent, interesting stuff. Atmosphere is one of the few hip hop groups that performs at the Warped Tour alongside hundreds of punk and rock bands, and of course they're cool too. If you want to check out
Now, I don't normally buy music anymore, but it's not just because I like to steal, it's mainly because I don't like when major labels steal from artists and force crappy music on us (don't believe me or know what I'm talking about? Go directly to www.downhillbattle.org and find out). Well, have no fear, these have all been run through the RIAA Radar (at www.riaaradar.com, conveniently) and they check out as safe--that means the album is released by an independent label, not a major label or affiliate. And that means nobody's getting ripped off and it's not supporting a horribly corrupt system. Doesn't that feel good?
Of course, if you're in the mood to steal some awesome hip hop anyway, you should check out the hard-hitting conspiracy-theorist Immortal Technique, who actually encourages it in one of his songs: "I made this to bump in your ride, or burn it off the internet, and bump it outside". Can't argue with that. Of course, it's very explicit, so you'd better not decide for yourself, you'd better contact your local senator and insist that they ban it, if you're reading this and you're under 18 or 21 or whatever the catch-all age should be.
Well, if you're not interested in music, you're probably dead! Just kidding, what I meant was you probably didn't enjoy that, and you probably didn't even make it this far. But if you did, how about telling me what your plans for Halloween are? Trick or Treating? Partying? Enjoying the one day you can wear your girlfriend's clothing without getting those strange looks in the subway? Germany isn't huge on Halloween (blasphemy!), but there are some big parties, at least one of which I'm sure I'll be going to. Oh, and they actually do it better than we do in America: we don't have CLASS the day after Halloween, since it's "All Saints Day"--I knew there was a reason we created Sainthood. Okay, that's all for now--talk to me, people.
Blackalicious - The Craft
Danger Doom - The Mouse and the Mask
Atmosphere - You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having
These are three recently released hip hop albums. Blackalicious is probably my favorite group, already having two flawless albums out there, and being the best live act I've ever seen (3 times!) Danger Doom is a team-up of Danger Mouse, the guy who gave us the incredible Gray Album (the mash-up of The Beatles' White Album and Jay-Z's Black Album), and M.F. Doom, from whom I've only heard a few things, but who puts out consistently praised, intelligent, interesting stuff. Atmosphere is one of the few hip hop groups that performs at the Warped Tour alongside hundreds of punk and rock bands, and of course they're cool too. If you want to check out
Now, I don't normally buy music anymore, but it's not just because I like to steal, it's mainly because I don't like when major labels steal from artists and force crappy music on us (don't believe me or know what I'm talking about? Go directly to www.downhillbattle.org and find out). Well, have no fear, these have all been run through the RIAA Radar (at www.riaaradar.com, conveniently) and they check out as safe--that means the album is released by an independent label, not a major label or affiliate. And that means nobody's getting ripped off and it's not supporting a horribly corrupt system. Doesn't that feel good?
Of course, if you're in the mood to steal some awesome hip hop anyway, you should check out the hard-hitting conspiracy-theorist Immortal Technique, who actually encourages it in one of his songs: "I made this to bump in your ride, or burn it off the internet, and bump it outside". Can't argue with that. Of course, it's very explicit, so you'd better not decide for yourself, you'd better contact your local senator and insist that they ban it, if you're reading this and you're under 18 or 21 or whatever the catch-all age should be.
Well, if you're not interested in music, you're probably dead! Just kidding, what I meant was you probably didn't enjoy that, and you probably didn't even make it this far. But if you did, how about telling me what your plans for Halloween are? Trick or Treating? Partying? Enjoying the one day you can wear your girlfriend's clothing without getting those strange looks in the subway? Germany isn't huge on Halloween (blasphemy!), but there are some big parties, at least one of which I'm sure I'll be going to. Oh, and they actually do it better than we do in America: we don't have CLASS the day after Halloween, since it's "All Saints Day"--I knew there was a reason we created Sainthood. Okay, that's all for now--talk to me, people.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Disappearing Posts Aren't Cool
I just typed up a post and then when I tried to post it it messed up and then all the text was gone too, so I couldn't just retry. So now I'm gonna try to type a short post in its place, and it darn well better work.
Friday we had to give theater presentations at our professor's house, which I was not at all excited about. I was wrong though, it was awesome. The presentations turned out reeeally easy, and the professor is the man. He made us such a huge meal with stuff like bread, salmon, and flammkuchen (like pizza but with a white sauce, so delicious). And about 6 bottles of wine. Of course, I think I ate and drank about 1/3 of everything that was put out, my professor was so happy about how much I consumed, in typical German fashion. There's only one other guy in the class of 10, and he didn't eat or drink very much, which meant I totally solidified my place as the professor's favorite guy student, and perhaps overall student. Plus, the dinner was in the middle of the presentations, and I gave the last presentation, which meant that both my professor and I were not sober for it. That always helps, in my experience (granted, this is the only experience I have...). Anyway, I gotta hang out with the professor again, he's the man. He also loved finding out that I had a pipe, even though he doesn't smoke anymore.
Speaking of pipe, Thursday night at the Dubliner for karaoke I smoked mine. It was fun, but I probably won't do it again. It's not worth it--it totally burns the tongue. Pipes are definitely one of those "cool...in theory" things.
And last but not least, Happy Birthdays to Tante Vicky (tomorrow, the 24th) and dear cousin Carley (the 26th). I didn't forget about you either, Julie, but you're not until Halloween. The end.
Friday we had to give theater presentations at our professor's house, which I was not at all excited about. I was wrong though, it was awesome. The presentations turned out reeeally easy, and the professor is the man. He made us such a huge meal with stuff like bread, salmon, and flammkuchen (like pizza but with a white sauce, so delicious). And about 6 bottles of wine. Of course, I think I ate and drank about 1/3 of everything that was put out, my professor was so happy about how much I consumed, in typical German fashion. There's only one other guy in the class of 10, and he didn't eat or drink very much, which meant I totally solidified my place as the professor's favorite guy student, and perhaps overall student. Plus, the dinner was in the middle of the presentations, and I gave the last presentation, which meant that both my professor and I were not sober for it. That always helps, in my experience (granted, this is the only experience I have...). Anyway, I gotta hang out with the professor again, he's the man. He also loved finding out that I had a pipe, even though he doesn't smoke anymore.
Speaking of pipe, Thursday night at the Dubliner for karaoke I smoked mine. It was fun, but I probably won't do it again. It's not worth it--it totally burns the tongue. Pipes are definitely one of those "cool...in theory" things.
And last but not least, Happy Birthdays to Tante Vicky (tomorrow, the 24th) and dear cousin Carley (the 26th). I didn't forget about you either, Julie, but you're not until Halloween. The end.
Okay, So Theater's Okay After All
If I was able to take just 4 classes instead of 5, theater is probably the one I would have dropped. But it's turning out better than I expected. Friday we had to give presentations at our professor's house (this was especially rankling considering we have no classes on Fridays, and since it was going from 3 pm to who knew when, I couldn't travel this weekend). But those turned out reeally easy. And our professor is the man. He made us such a huge, multiple course meal, with stuff like salmon, bread, and flammkuchen, which is similar to pizza but with a white sauce, and absolutely delicious.
Also, we went through about 6 bottles of wine. I'm one of 2 guys in the class, I think there are 10 people overall, and my professor definitely loves me--don't get me wrong, he's so nice and likes everybody, but I think it's safe to say I'm his favorite, especially after he saw how I could eat and drink. At dinner, I was the garbage disposal, and also the wine disposal, but the other guy wasn't eating or drinking very much, so I could tell the professor was disappointed with him, in typical German fashion. Of course, we had this incredibly long meal in between some presentations, and I went last, so I was definitely not sober for it, and neither was my professor. That always helps, in my experience (which is limited to this one time, granted...). Anyway, it turned out to be such an awesome time, and I definitely want to hang out with the professor again sometime.
Workin in reverse chronological order, I smoked my pipe Thursday. I went to the Dubliner with people for karaoke, as usual, and we smoked the pipe a few times. I don't think I'll do that again. It was fun, but not really worth it. That stuff is crazy, and it really burns the tongue. Pipes are one of those "cool in theory" things.
Couple of birthday shoutouts: Tante Vicky, tomorrow, the 24th, and Carley, the 26th. I didn't forget you either, Julie, but you're not for another week. Happy birfdays. The end.
Also, we went through about 6 bottles of wine. I'm one of 2 guys in the class, I think there are 10 people overall, and my professor definitely loves me--don't get me wrong, he's so nice and likes everybody, but I think it's safe to say I'm his favorite, especially after he saw how I could eat and drink. At dinner, I was the garbage disposal, and also the wine disposal, but the other guy wasn't eating or drinking very much, so I could tell the professor was disappointed with him, in typical German fashion. Of course, we had this incredibly long meal in between some presentations, and I went last, so I was definitely not sober for it, and neither was my professor. That always helps, in my experience (which is limited to this one time, granted...). Anyway, it turned out to be such an awesome time, and I definitely want to hang out with the professor again sometime.
Workin in reverse chronological order, I smoked my pipe Thursday. I went to the Dubliner with people for karaoke, as usual, and we smoked the pipe a few times. I don't think I'll do that again. It was fun, but not really worth it. That stuff is crazy, and it really burns the tongue. Pipes are one of those "cool in theory" things.
Couple of birthday shoutouts: Tante Vicky, tomorrow, the 24th, and Carley, the 26th. I didn't forget you either, Julie, but you're not for another week. Happy birfdays. The end.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
I'm Back, Been Around The World
But mostly just the Köln (Cologne) and Bonn part of the world. Stopped at a Monastery on the way to Köln, it was gorgeous. The tour guide lady spoke as sl ow ly as humanly possible to us, but still used tons of vocab we didn't know, so it took roughly 3.5 times longer than it should have.
We also stopped on the way and took a boat ride for a couple of hours down (okay, up) the Rhine. That was absolutely beautiful as well. I've never imagined so many castles in my life. Brian and I would have jumped out of the boat for the right amount of money; that is, between €75 and 100, depending on whether we did it alone or together. No one else would really consider it. Cowards!
Köln was sweet. Definitely much more city-like than some places here, and big, but still highly attractive in its way, with the river running through it, and the Dom, the Cathedral, was crazy, in a huge and cool sense. Brian, Dave, and I drank some Kölsch, the Köln beer, and we got a free round of drinks and got charged less than we should have by the really cool bartender. We also talked to a fat, drunk, old man for a while, he was pretty hilarious. We also checked out the AntikMarkt, which was a lot like a flea market. Got some neat stuff there, including pipes for €5 each--pipes are just fun to have, more for the classiness than the smokiness. Also, we ate in one weekend more than we probably have in a month. If you've never felt drunk from eating too much food, you've never lived.
Bonn was nice too, although the fantastic weather helped, naturally. The University campus is a lot like an American one, with the huge green and the long stretches lined with trees and such. And we saw Beethoven's house.
Busy week ahead, lots of work to do, including preparing an oral presentation for theater. We present them on Friday, which isn't cool, but nothing I can do about it, and at least the professor's making us Flammkuchen. Brian and I are probably still gonna try to make it to Leipzig and Dresden Saturday and Sunday; we'll see. I'll try to get my Köln pics up tomorrow maybe (I forgot my camera on the bus for the couple of hours we were in Bonn); since they're mostly scenery pics I doubt I'll be putting many captions on them, and that's what takes the most time normally. See ya next time.
We also stopped on the way and took a boat ride for a couple of hours down (okay, up) the Rhine. That was absolutely beautiful as well. I've never imagined so many castles in my life. Brian and I would have jumped out of the boat for the right amount of money; that is, between €75 and 100, depending on whether we did it alone or together. No one else would really consider it. Cowards!
Köln was sweet. Definitely much more city-like than some places here, and big, but still highly attractive in its way, with the river running through it, and the Dom, the Cathedral, was crazy, in a huge and cool sense. Brian, Dave, and I drank some Kölsch, the Köln beer, and we got a free round of drinks and got charged less than we should have by the really cool bartender. We also talked to a fat, drunk, old man for a while, he was pretty hilarious. We also checked out the AntikMarkt, which was a lot like a flea market. Got some neat stuff there, including pipes for €5 each--pipes are just fun to have, more for the classiness than the smokiness. Also, we ate in one weekend more than we probably have in a month. If you've never felt drunk from eating too much food, you've never lived.
Bonn was nice too, although the fantastic weather helped, naturally. The University campus is a lot like an American one, with the huge green and the long stretches lined with trees and such. And we saw Beethoven's house.
Busy week ahead, lots of work to do, including preparing an oral presentation for theater. We present them on Friday, which isn't cool, but nothing I can do about it, and at least the professor's making us Flammkuchen. Brian and I are probably still gonna try to make it to Leipzig and Dresden Saturday and Sunday; we'll see. I'll try to get my Köln pics up tomorrow maybe (I forgot my camera on the bus for the couple of hours we were in Bonn); since they're mostly scenery pics I doubt I'll be putting many captions on them, and that's what takes the most time normally. See ya next time.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Representations Of Reality
That is, pictures. I posted a ton of them. Go there now and feast your eyes and souls. http://community.webshots.com/user/bleibcool
I have 2 classes on Tuesdays. One's at 9:00 AM, one's at 6:00 PM. Today the 9:00 one got cancelled, but I was already almost here, so it was too late to shut back down and sleep longer. I don't know what to do with myself all day--so much potential, so little drive.
Maybe I'll hit up the outdoor track. Maybe some grocery shopping. I just don't know. All I know is I accidentally baked a frozen pizza with some plastic last night. Tasted even better than normal.
I have 2 classes on Tuesdays. One's at 9:00 AM, one's at 6:00 PM. Today the 9:00 one got cancelled, but I was already almost here, so it was too late to shut back down and sleep longer. I don't know what to do with myself all day--so much potential, so little drive.
Maybe I'll hit up the outdoor track. Maybe some grocery shopping. I just don't know. All I know is I accidentally baked a frozen pizza with some plastic last night. Tasted even better than normal.
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