joe's wasting your time

April 2008

29,04,08
OK 2,0 I just removed your "blog" from my homepage(s), but I added Stephanies...so for the yanks you might find this interesting
http://westmeetswest.blogspot.com/
Stephanie is one of the most american americans I know here...(sorry if that offends you stephanie, but I doubt it does ;) )...anyways if a yank wants to read a well written (mine is obviously not!!!) newbies experiences in germania check it out...

27,04,08 part II
OK..evening now...great day!!! First time in a long time that I didn't...
(((OMG the Cherry Poppin Daddies just came on as I'm typing...I'm listening to Shoutcast.com -tokyoninja- a streaming audio site...I haven't heard this in years...Eugene representin')))
spend time with anyone I know...my only real interaction was with the starbucks people (twice) and Mona at Mac's where I ate lunch alone. Was actually nice...slightly boring, but still nice...
I did hijack a book from Mac's but didn't start it yet...I also have a movie borrowed from Saffa that I haven't watched yet...so many choices...maybe I'll just keep frittering my time away online...that's valuable as well...I haven't really spent hours online in ages...did you tube and web sites I should visit more etc...

anyways...relaxed, refreshed...a near NAD...am excited to go to work tomorrow! Thursday off...might go to dreikoenigskeller on Wed. anyone???

27,04,08
what a gorgeous day in ffm!!!
Here's some more random pics from this weekend...

I love this city!!!
Sven and Paranoid Pete...at the saturday Konsti market...
Vanessa, I encourage you not to marry this bloke...Look at him!

I don't often get to use dapper in a sentence...today is no exception.


Paul...don't ever ever ever make me sit next to the russian dude again...I am scared of him...and besides that he doesn't really follow our bizarre conversations and I had to keep explaining things to him...the problem with this particular scary russian dude is that when he can't follow the conversations he is probably assuming that we're talking about him and I suspect this makes him angry...uhhhh....homeboy was scary...
raise hands in air - palm up...lower hands-palm down (2x)...or just point a single finger...do you see what's written on the end of my finger...dude..seriously....CTFD!!!!

that crash and burn really was a crash and burn....

what was too good to forget twice and did we really all forget it twice???

the most important thing I learned this weekend: When you're riding a bike and you have to slow down to such that point that you lose all velocity - the proper thing to do is put your foot down until you catch your balance...the incorrect thing to do is use the shoulder of whoever happens to be walking in your vicinity...In this case Saffa picked an old asian lady with two canes, a colostomy bag, and a pacemaker...Excuse me old lady I'm going to use you because my own legs seem not to be working...I happened to be on the back of Saffas bike and would have liked to turn around to see if the old lady was still alive, but I did not want to put any more innocent people at risk by making saffa lose his balance...
Ron: "Brick, I've been meaning to talk to you about that. You should find yourself a safe house or a relative close by because you're probably wanted for murder."

the second most important thing I learned this weekend was that when you're giving a friend a ride on the back of your bike and a small girl wants to pass you, it's OK to let her pass you...there is no glory in being able to peddle faster than an 8 year old girl...just let her win...or your tire might pop...
...or maybe it was the sound effects coming from saffas mouth that caused the tire to pop...I just can't be sure...

Thanks to Mrs. Saffa for the spaghetti bolognese. A homecooked meal is a rarity for me and it was DELICOUS!!!

26,04,08
so tonight is nacht der museen (night of the museums). there are a ton of Museums here along the river (I can see a couple from my balcony over towards Römer). They open all the museums til 2:00 and you can see them all for 12€ or so.
I'm pretty sure this was in May last year, cuz it's April now... ;)
I solved the riddle...
One short year in one short life...moving on  now ;)

anyways since everyone I know is busy or out of town I am pondering a bottle of wine and a bench in the Römer...there will be plenty of people about to watch and starbucks will be open until 2 or 3 tonight...hmmmmm...sounds better than actually fighting with the culturally illiterate who populate the museums once a year (oh yeah...people like me).

saffa was trying to convince me today that the lowest possible gearing on a bike would be the small sprocket on the pedals and the big sprocket on the back tire...we have the most exciting conversations after reading the guardian...
for the yanks...the Guardian is an english news daily...

25,04,08
I just finished reading Cloud Atlas on the way home from work today (on the Strassenbahn)...as I mentioned when I started it does not say anywhere on the cover what the book it about...
OK, so basically it is six narratives...starting in the 1800 (with an english guy as I mentioned), it moved forward to the 1930's, the 70's, the 00's, the nearish future, then the far distant future (semi post apocalyptic). then backwards again through the narratives...the stories were only slighty tied together...
SO.....I kept waiting for something to happen and it (something) never really did...
I didn't find a point until the last few pages (and I probably missed the point to be honest), but in every storyline there basically was an overclass (British Merchants, egotistical composer, crazy japanese guy that talks to cats, capitalist-over-consumers) and a lower class that was being taken advantage of (natives, clones, cats etc.). Along the way it warned of over-consumption, war, greed, etc.
I'm going to type a passage here, cuz it sort of sums it all up...I have to wonder if the author wrote this part first and based his whole book on it...
but here goes...this is the next to last page and it's the 1800's guy writing in his journal...

"...my recent adventures have made me quite the philosopher, especially at night, when I hear naught but the stream grinding boulders into pebbles through an unhurried eternity. My thoughts flow thus. Scholars discern motions in history & formulate these motions into rules that govern the rises & falls of civilizations. My belief runs contrary, however, To wit: history admits no rules; only outcomes.
What precipitates outcomes? Vicious acts & virtuous acts.
What precipitates acts? Belief-

Belief is both prize & battlefield, within the mind & in the minds mirror, the world. If we believe humanity is a ladder of tribes, a colosseum of confrontation, exploitation & bestiality, such a humanity is surely brought into being, & history's Horroxes, Boerhaaves & Gooses (characters in the book...jjs) shall prevail. You & I, the moneyed, the privileged, the fortunate, shall not fare so badly in this world, provided our luck holds. What of it if our consciences itch? Why undermine the dominance of our race, our gunships, our heritage & our legacy? Why fight the 'natural' (oh, weaselly word!) order of things?
Why? because of this: - one fine day, a purely predatory world shall consume itself. Yes, the devil shall take the hindmost until the foremost is the hindmost. In an individual, selfishness uglifies the soul; for the human species, selfishness is extinction.
Is this entropy written within our nature?
If we believe that humanity may transcend tooth & claw, if we believe diverse races & creeds can share this world as peaceably as the orphans share their candlenut tree, if we believe leaders must be just, violence muzzled, power accountable & the riches of the Earth & it's oceans shared equitably, such a world will come to pass. I am not deceived. It is the hardest of worlds to make real .Tortuous advances won over generations can be lost by a single stroke of a myopic president's pen or a vainglorious general's sword..."

The book wasn't that great while reading it, but will probably stick with me for a while...Kind of like the movie "Parfum" (Perfume). I kept waiting for something to happen in that movie and after it was over I had to shake my head and think about it for a while...(having not read the book before seeing the movie).

p.s. the guy talking to cats thing was a joke...however, I'm guessing only two people who read this page will get it...
I need a new book to read...I'll be raiding the book exchange at MacGowans tomorrow for lunch...anyone want to join just show up...

not telling me that Foy Vance is in town might be unforgivable...

24,04,08
reading the guardian may have given me two more bad analogies last night...

before I started watching footy I used to just say it's nothing more than super slow hockey, but during last night's ma'amU/Barca game I realized that football is really more like basketball than any other sport I can think of. Mostly half court (field) offense, pass the ball around until you get a mismatch or opening then take a shot...if there's a bad pass/turnover then you get a breakaway chance...in footy you get 5-15? shots a game (per team) and in basketball you get 40-50?

ok. Just googled that and yes there are many people who have made this observation...I'm a tad slow...
This is my own revelation for myself...

the other...
when a woman cries a mans reaction is somewhat similar to his reaction when someone tries to get him to hold a baby (OH MY GOD...OH MY GOD...WHAT DO I DO...OH MY GOD)..."why...no...I'd rather not hold the baby."
on that note....Women...never ever ever cry after sex...for the man this is like being asked to hold two babies at the same time...This will induce sure panic (you remember the signal don't you?) and in some cases death (in case you're captured you may need to take your own life...Here...you'll need this (hammer))

Unfortunate Deutsch mistranslation of the night...
mohammed is in my that's a pity...

remember the good ol' days when i wrote about death and war and stuff ;)

might be travelling to Italia in May (business)...am very excited...can finally see what all the fuss is about ;)

22,04,08
maybe Iran should stick to abstinence only sex ed...
(that's something akin to not teaching your children how to Stop-Drop-and Roll but instead just saying they won't ever need to know that if I just don't give them a lighter)...
that is possibly the best analogy I've ever come up with ( in a life filled with bad analogies).

I had carpaccio for the first time last weekend...mmmmmm....raw beef....was quite (and surprisingly) good...I don't know think I knew of anyone in the states who ever ate raw beef (steak tar tar is also raw beef right?). my parents would be horrified I'm sure...I also had a raw egg on a pizza last year (in Brittany i think?). Also uncommon in the states, except in that CHiPs episode where Eric Estrada (Paunch or Punch?) had a whole glass of them...I guess they hadn't invented salmonella in the 70's....

so...I have an easy time imagining that the food chain is much better here than in the states (read fresher, healthier, etc), but maybe that's just my bias again...I suppose it could have to do with the short distance to ship items, but it also must have lots to do with choosing not to grow mediocre strawberries all year round instead of having good strawberries for 2 months of the year (it must be close to Spargel/asparagus season as the stands are popping up).
anyways what was my point...oh yeah....eggs aren't necessarily refrigerated in stores here. That must mean they're fresh or something....
and I'm not fond of asparagus (...that was the night we had asparagus and potatoes right?).

and since I was vague again I will attempt to explain Spargel (I may have done this last year too)...Spargel (asparagus) is only available for about 2 months of the year here and it seems to be a very big deal for people that are fond of asparagus (actually this whole story is making me very angry...) and it seems that every restaurant has spargel on their specials list for those 2 months (jerks!), and then as if by magic in June or July the spargel is gone...(see it's funny cuz I'm not fond of spargel)....
(how fond must I be of spargel to have capitalized it thrice in the finely written two paragraphs above...)
ok...let me explain again...not fond of Spargel....not angry however...;)
SPARGEL, SPARGEL, SPARGEL!!!!!

-------------------------------

ok just for kicks I reread everything I just wrote....I'm going to highlight all the things that I think are funny but I'm guessing that at least some of you people won't get....
  
Stop-Drop-Roll note: The effectiveness of stop, drop and roll may be further enhanced by combining it with other firefighting techniques, including the use of a fire extinguisher, dousing with water, or fire beating.
On that note....this is not stop drop and roll, but there is fire involved...


a(ny) CHiPs reference...
this one especially because they did in fact invent salmonella in the 70's.
 
the strawberries reference has to do with the demise of Willamette Valley strawberry growers because the cheap low quality california strawberries are replacing the higher quality, more expensive Oregon ones (which are seasonal in Oregon).

The asparagus and potatoes reference comes form a conversation that is stolen but here (written by kat):
Squires: "Remember dad, it was last year at the wine market."
Safa: "Yeah, we were drinking with Christoph somebody."
Dad: "I wasn't there."
Me: "Yes, you were. You showed me a pic of Christoph because you really wanted me to meet this guy."
Dad: "No, I wasn't there. I don't remember any of this."
Me: "Yeah I was late from work and I came to meet you all in the Irish pub. Safa was plastered and kept telling me his Easter trip with Vaness in Spain and how everything was closed. He told the story like five times that night."
Dad: "Really, guys, I would have remembered, I wasn't there."
Me: "yes you were, you were dancing!"
Safa: "Jeff, you were there. Remember? These two girls were downstairs."
Squires: "yeah we had seen them at the wine market shortly before."
Me: "And they were sitting right next to us in YOURS."
Dad: "Oh... wait... was that the day we had asparagus and potatoes?"

The SPARGEL,! SPARGEL! SPARGEL! reference is so obscure even I don't get it...but remember the end of that Spaced episode....RABBITS! RABBITS! RABBITS! Just pretend that guy is dancing in the background.

see how much better the last 3 minutes are now that i explained all the vague stuff? ;)

if you want the last 3 minutes of your life back then send me an animated gif of yourself stopping, dropping, and rolling and I'll see what I can do for you.

Can I put 100€ on Schalke?

21,04,08
so yesterday was the first (I think) nice day so far this year...so spent it with Kat, Saffa, Shaun, and Tall Paul...
tall pauls immediate comment on visiting the beach (my balcony) for the first time "have you ever peed off of here" yeah you gotta love the quality of the ami's that aren't GI's...;)
This is what Paulskirche looks like at ground level...also note the Saffa has his coat zipped up...those of us who know Saffa know that there's only one reason he ever zips up his coat... ;)

and from aunt cindy...these are apparently actual ads from the black and white days....or I'm possibly the victim of an internet hoax ;)



I was very excited to have a night in and read, relax etc. but I've basically frittered my evening sending emails and stuff....good plan squires!!!

good gawd I just referred to myself in the third person...squires, you loser!

saffa...can you come over and clean again soon???

and for the Iranians in the house...
http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/humannature/archive/2008/04/17/condoms-needles-and-iranian-moderates.aspx

Condoms are freely available in Iranian pharmacies. The Islamic republic in the 1990s started actively promoting contraception as it encouraged families to have just two children to prevent the country's population growth increasing further. Iran has tried to change its approach to drug addicts by treating users as "people who need help" rather than throwing them into already overcrowded jails.

How do you like that? On drugs and HIV, the United States has been out-liberalized and out-pragmatized by the right wing of the Axis of Evil.

I'm almost done with my second book in about 2 weeks...I'm going to have to hijack/borrow another book from MacGowans soon unless someone can give me one...in english please....

20,04,08
So I finally made it to Balalaika last night...I've been dying to go here for about a year or so...had a great time!
http://balalaika.rasking.de/
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9KFpPN9KcaM
Place is run by Anita...an old lady from Harlem who made me tear up for Mr Bojangles...I should be embarrassed, but her version was incredible...Anita sort of reminds me of a large drunk muppet...at bit out of sorts (and has probably been singing and playing the songs exactly the same way for the last 40 years), but when she grabbed her guitar and did a bit of a "mi mi mi" warm up I was expecting to be disappointed (I guess she doesn't sound good unwarmed...), but once she started singing it was amazing...I can see me making the Dreikoenigskeller->Balalaika evening a regular thing...

he danced with those at minstrel
shows & county fairs,
throughout The South.
He spoke with tears
of fifteen years
of how his dog and him,
had traveled about.
his dog up and died,
he up and died,
after twenty years he still grieves.

He said "I dance
now and every chance at
honkey-tonks,
for drinks and tips.
But most of time
I spend behind these country bars,
cause I drinks a bit."

he shook his head.
and as he shook his head,
I heard someone ask please,

Mr. Bojangles.
Mr. Bojangles.
Mr. Bojangles.
dance,

anyways before Balalaika I went with Saffa, Mrs Saffa and Kat to Paulos Italian restuarant on Schweizer Strasse...I don't often do real sit down dinners of late so this was a nice break. Food was pretty good...wine was expensive, but the atmosphere and service were great!!!

I realize that the people in the states probably don't know a lot of the words I use on this page...one of these days I'll break down and make some kind of translation...
e.g. Saffa - a Saffa is a south African. It can be an insult (like saying Yank). Since Saffa and Mrs. Saffa are from southafricaland that's their names...
Pom (or pommy) is another one I didn't know before I came here...it's slang for a brit..look...I did some research for your reading pleasure...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_words_for_British#Pommy
Use of the word "pom" remains slightly contentious. Some British people living in Australasia find the term offensive and demeaning, others find it harmless and amusing. Attitudes to the use of the word have varied over the years. In the 1960s, slogans such as "bash a pom a day" were heard on New Zealand radio. In Australia, it was frequently employed in the contemptuous phrase pommy bastard up until about the 1970s, when the wave of postwar British immigration to Australia began to decline; the phrase is rarely heard nowadays. The word has become so common that few Australians and New Zealanders see any reason to avoid using it, some even justifying the use of it as a "term of endearment". In December 2006, the Advertising Standards Board of Australia unanimously ruled that the word "pom" was a part of the Australian vernacular, and was largely used in a "playful or affectionate" sense. As a consequence, the board ruled that the word did not constitute a racial slur, and could be freely used in advertising. The Board was responding to a complaint filed by a community group called British People Against Racial Discrimination.

why is the guardian making so many appearances lately???
see I just did it again...noone in the states will get the guardian reference...

17,04,08
The bike taxis are out in frankfurt....a sure sign of spring...

16,04,08
I saw a 2 year old who was just repeating poppy! wo bist du?
I have a way better vocabulary than you, you 2 year old brat! Learn to speak!!! ;) I've been here less than 2 years and I have 3 times the vocabulary that you do...

a colleague actually brought in sesemestrasse CD with songs from the show...I knew the english versions of some of the songs from watching as a child. So far today I've learned fledermaus (bat), keks (cookie), and nimm (take).

I've noticed that telling someone to "calm the F*ck down" rarely has the desired calming effect. ;) especially if you say it with any amount of uncalmness in your voice...

my lawn-mower is from 1974 because the cord is 3 meters long...

kat: Mow the lawn bitch!!!!

kat: (probably immediately after calling Pete and I Mork n Mindy)...I just insulted both of them at once...it's called time management...

It was quickly determined that I am in fact Mork...so things could be worse for me...

I buckled saffas bike but Seattle Crippled it...this sounds like bad wrestling...Tonight the Buckler vs. The Crippler...Seriously saffa...what kind of genius wants to drive around grown men on the back of his bike?....6-0

remember that time you leaned your bike against the bike rack and forgot to lock it??? 6-0

This picture 6-0


game, set, match!

seriously file these under I need better friends ;)


what is cooler than doing the lawnmower in unison with friends?
thanks Paranoid Pete (aka Seattle, aka Barney, aka Pete, aka Mindy) for expanding my repertoire of dance moves...I now have mastered the Lawnmower, the bus driver, the cell phone and probably more that I can't recall right now...
here's another lawnmower shot from a different night...I'm a dancing fool!!!


at the beach...
the bike has been buckled and cripped...but not in the same day...

Kat: may the beer flow 6-0 (say it six love enough times and it becomes funny...)

14,04,08
Stayed in and watched Sideways...good flick...

pizza and NAD!!!

I spilled water on my external drive yesterday...bye bye photos and music...uhhh....I hope whoever has my old external drive still has it and didn't wipe it ;)
lemme know...

I borrowed another book from MacGowans...Cloud Atlas...nowhere inside or out does it tell what the book is actually about, it does however have a quote from the Daily Telegraph that says the book is "Superbly entertaining"...well good enough from me...it starts out with a diary of an english doctor who seems to be visiting the colonies...sounds awful...please don't turn out to be a John Irving book...

13,01,08
"If I had a gun for every ace I've drawn...
I could arm a town the size of Abilene..."
Cracker...Loser...
Ok great opening line of a song...It just came on as I'm typing so I retype it now...

so happy birthday matt for the 47th time...it's still not quite as bad as Benj's birthday last year when he celebrated 87 times...but here's some pics...
Matt obviously gave them all lessons about how to pose for pics.
John-uhhh, jana, john-A...
can i find a random generic insult for Italians here???? j/k I love Italians...;)
Never drink with an irishman (especially when he's wearing a chequered flag)...see the look of panic and confusion on my face....the mass is mine!!!! (for the yanks...a mass (sounds like moss) is a one liter beer). In this case it's filled with water..............cuz as everyone here knows I don't drink...
My what a wonderful smell you've discovered...Marius...also note the burnt menu...didn't Kat try to burn a menu about 6 months ago??? I'm just going to say yes....nice work Kat!!!!
Pops looks dignified as always even though I know he had heartburn ;)

below is another song that just came on...I always think of my dad when I hear this, though maybe it doesn't all apply.
what's even more unusual though is that reading these lyrics without hearing the music it doesn't seem very poetic or musical, but with the music it is...

"Things The Grandchildren Should Know"

I go to bed real early
Everybody thinks it's strange
I get up early in the morning
No matter how disappointed i was
With the day before
It feels new

I don't leave the house much
I don't like being around people
Makes me nervous and weird
I don't like going to shows either
It's better for me to stay home
Some might think it means i hate people
But that's not quite right

I do some stupid things
But my heart's in the right place
And this i know

I got a dog
I take him for a walk
And all the people like to say hello
I'm used to staring down at the sidewalk cracks
I'm learning how to say hello
Without too much trouble

I'm turning out just like my father
Though i swore i never would
Now i can say that i have a love for him
I never really understood
What it must have been like for him
Living inside his head

I feel like he's here with me now
Even though he's dead

It's not all good and it's not all bad
Don't believe everything you read
I'm the only one who knows what it's like
So i thought i'd better tell you
Before i leave

So in the end i'd like to say
That i'm a very thankful man
I tried to make the most of my situations
And enjoy what i had
I knew true love and i knew passion
And the difference between the two
And i had some regrets
But if i had to do it all again
Well, it's something i'd like to do

12,04,08
So Friday was good...wine market with the old man and usual crew. Good to have jeff in town for a week..we'll miss you again when you're gone...
Happy birthday mate!
OK note the size of the schnitzel. Then note that it is only half of the schnitzel... we just ordered 2 breads and asked them to cut it...weinmarkt and schnitzel....what a Friday...
the guys looking up a cinnamon ring recipe on Saffas iPhone...
don't spill any of your 3 wines on my coat...

The sun came out today and I had a stimulating conversation this morning with the crazy old harmonica dude who sometimes hangs out by starbucks. He wanted to take a break from singing Rastafari Party to come ask me for change...he then launched into some thesis about how the sun makes the people smile...He was quite happy today...even though he had health problems and can't work anymore (i know way too much about this dude now!)
singing rastafari party while accompanying yourself on a cheap harmonica must take some kind of skill...

11,04,08
kat apparently lives in constant fear that her mother will burn the (proverbial) mother down....

Kafka on the shore is not the best book I've read so far this year, but I did finish it rather quickly....unfortunately the author said the book contains riddles that you will only find if you read it over and over....great!!!!!
I'm sticking to horror novels with happy endings or just sci fi romance....I don't have time to reread books...
Can someone just make a movie and I could just watch that several times???
Since it's translated from japanese would I also need to learn japanese to get the riddles???

I have today off for the börse weinmarkt (difference this time is that Saffa and the old man aren't sneaking off work early...drinking loads of wine and then having to go back to work to say bye)...so since I was killing time with coffee I was reminiscing about Planet of the Apes and it's ending...I was trying to recall movies that have those endings that just drop your jaw and have such an effect on you that you want to watch the movie again immediately...the kinds of movies that make you want to watch movies...
Sadly(?) I only came up with the Sixth Sense, and the Usual Suspects...Is it really possible that movies like that are so rare...Is it just me...am I too jaded? Am I missing any others?

09,04,08
I must not post after midnight anymore ;)

It was Open Season not Over the hedge...I fixed it below in my massive well written movie review section....

I think precedence was correct...

08,04,08
sophistamication

LIVERPOOL FC 4-2 arsenal
got to see the beauty of sport played out in the last 10 minutes...a miracle tie (win), followed by a miracle goal, followed by a pile on....

...and Phil, nothings happened yet re: my page count...you have no power... ;)

06,04,08
"Being a foreigner is a sort of lifelong pregnancy—a perpetual wait, a constant burden, a continuous feeling out of sorts,"
Jhumpa Hahiri
The Namesake (2003)

Saffa:...being an american is like having an STD...no matter where you go, it still affects you...

Seattle (to me): I didn't realize it until I was back in the states, but you are such a cliché. your look is so stereotypical...
(Seattle went to the states, and apparently everyone in seattle has a beard and wears sweatshirts and knit caps.)

kat: you look so much better with a beard...It gives you a certain level of sophistication...I saw a picture of you from last summer and you had no beard, and you looked like crap!

Which reminds me what she said last time I shaved...something like
"you look like a freak...bring it back....bring it back"

gotta love Germans and their non passive-aggressive way of communicating ;)

Charlton Heston is dead...I remember seeing planet of the apes for the first time when i was 13 and that scene in the end when he's on the horse and stumbles upon the statue of liberty half buried in sand was quite a powerful moment...I had no clue that he had landed in the future...blew my mind a bit....

...back to reading Kafka on the shore...

04,04,08
The human torch was denied a loan....

I'm currently reading Kafka on the Shore...I'm finally turning into the reader I haven't been since I was about 10. this can only help the writing style on this page ;)
Just finished "A short history of nearly everything"...great pop science book. In the past few months I think I've finished "Harold and Maude", "1984", "Freakonomics", part of "the picture of Dorian Gray", and 90% of "Hotel New Hampshire" which I'm refusing to finish on principal...seriously...too much started happening and it was no longer realistic...I can read a book about mummies and be fine, but Hotel New Hampshire was just too much...
A few pages into Kafka on the Shore and I was missing small town life...I suddenly have an urge to spend a week in a small town with nothing to do...ahh Coquille I miss you...

anchorman again:
Ed Harken: A lot of you have been hearing the affiliates complaining about a lack of diversity on the news team.
Champ Kind: What in the hell's diversity?
Ron Burgundy: Well, I could be wrong, but I believe diversity is an old, old wooden ship that was used during the Civil War era.
Ed Harken: Ron, I would be surprised if the affiliates were concerned about the lack of an old, old wooden ship, but nice try.
-----------------
Brian Fantana: That was one crazy party. I am hung over.
Champ Kind: I woke up on the floor of some Japanese family's rec room, and they would NOT stop screaming.
Brick Tamland: I ate a big, red candle.
------------------
Brick Tamland: [riding a bear] Hey, Ron. I'm riding a furry tractor.
-----------------
Ed Harken: [on the phone] I have no idea where he would have gotten ahold of German pornography. But you and I are mature adults; we've both seen our share of pornographic materials. Oh, you never have? Of course you haven't, how stupid of me. Neither have I. I was just speaking in generalities. Right. I'll stop by the school a little later, Sister Margaret. Bye.
-----------------
Ed Harken: [on the phone with his son] Put down the gun, and let the marching band go. We'll play it off as a prank.
-----------------
Ed Harken: Apparently, my son was on something called "Acid," and was shooting a bow and arrow into a crowd.



02,04,08
my idea to number all the reds has been shot down...after all what happens if we meet a red (red4) headed Bulgarian (Bulgy10)...we would have to come up with a whole new classification system for that...or define a precedence...

I've seen so many movies the last few days...reviews...
Shopgirl...liked it quite a lot...sucker for romantic comedies...
Open Season...liked it quite a lot...like ice age, only different (animals have crisis....animals go on journey...animals make friends with other animals along the journey)....
Cars.....tried to fall asleep after 8 minutes...didn't quite fall asleep ;)
Big Lebowski...gets better every time...how 'bout them apples?

01,04,08
It's kind of difficult to meet someone at starbucks when as I'm waiting outside alone the red headed girl just brings me my drink, and says "this is for you...a Present"...
again...I was waiting outside...I didn't even go in, but it's a neat trick...I'm going to try it again...when waiting outside fails I'll just walk in, make sure they see me (thus starting to make my drink). Then immediately move outside...since they've already made the drink they'll have to just bring it to me....
can we just start giving numbers to the red headed girls instead of nicknames?