This is my first experience with photoshop. Things i'm looking forward to part 1-
I have less than 2 weeks here and i still have to do major christmas shopping and go to Fayoum for the final (?) part of ramadan, the second feast. i just want to be as far away from the mass public slaughter of animals as possible, i dont care if its cultural or not, its gross.
We have no hot water and its starting to get colder, so i've been taking a whore's bath for 3 days now and it wont be fixed until tomorrow. also, what do you call it? i always thought 'whores bath' was the more appropriate way to say 'polish shower', but i asked a friend the other night and she said she never heard of either. she said she calls it a 'sink shower'. after i gave her points for creativity i asked if she needed a food shovel (spoon) for her cake hole. this was also when we did not have electricity...i love this apartment.
i'm not looking forward to the cold in the states, in fact, i'm dreading it. you're lucky i like you so much.
i have no ipod or anything (it was stolen a couple months ago), so the plane ride will be terrible. i'll probably just stare ahead blankly thinking about 821 brunch, mexican food, burmese food, and nerds ropes with friends. trust me, after 5 months of beans you can spend 15 hours thinking about foodthings.
I just realized that i'll be in america in less that 2 weeks.
get excited.
get very excited.
I just put up some old photos from 2006 on flickr. here are some of my favorites:
carrie, mike b, and angela watching buddist monks play soccer.
carrie and matt v. wearing shark masks
check out the flickr for the rest
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Now playing: Pedro The Lion - Indian Summer
via FoxyTunes
If you needed a reason to not get all of your information about the world from the american news media, check this out. It is a CNN 'breaking news video' in which a cat rides a roomba. It was on the front page of one of the leading news sources. The best part is that the reporter talks for about 20 seconds, trying to say the word 'viral' as much as robotically possible, and i guess the segment had to be 1 minute because she just says 'and here you go, we'll let you enjoy this adorable cat for a while.' So then the cat is just sitting on this roomba for a comically long time with no music or commentary. What an amazing allocation of resources.
What an amazing allocation of adorable.
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Now playing: Daft Punk - Something About Us
via FoxyTunes
People around here talk about politics nonstop, but no one ever talks about Thai politics. I guess it's because it doesn't affect most of the world, but I think it's important to examine revolutions and protests to see what works and what does not. Recently I've been reading The African Dream, so it's nice to read about a current revolution that doesn't read like a balance sheet of failures.
Ok, so here's my explanation of what seems to be going on (I don’t claim accuracy):
Thailand is currently the longest ruling monarchy we have in the world. That means that the king has been king longer than any other king or queen that currently reigns. Of course the king doesn't do too much, much like in England. He is simply respected by everyone and if you watch a movie in Thailand expect to stand up before the previews and put your hand on your heart while watching a PowerPoint presentation about the king, set to what sounds like a Thai rendition of Tears in Heaven.
In 2001, Thaksin (actually pronounced like toxin), was elected prime minister. He quickly lost favor with the people when he couldn't deliver on his promises that he could turn the economy around. It turned out that he was a supreme a-hole and was basically Thailand’s George bush for a couple years. When I went there about three years ago there were tons of protests and nice graffiti involving thaksin and the toxic waste symbol (sometimes you just go for the obvious). Instead of 'pulling an America' and idly sitting by, everyone started protesting, camping out in streets, stopping business, etc.
it worked. The military ended up pulling off a bloodless coup when thaksin was visiting another country on business. He was brought up on charges of corruption and was so dirty that even his lawyers were arrested. He now lives in exile and bought football (soccer) team in England.
Now the protestors claim that he is 'pulling a Putin' and the new Prime Minister, Somchai, is simply a puppet of thaksin. There seems to be plenty of evidence to support this, and so the protesters took over parliament and have been squatting in it for months now! They have been a consistent wrench in the political system and all they want is proper representation and a leader that looks out for their interests.
So parliament had to start holding sessions in the airport. Today the protesters basically took over the airport! They are successfully stopping/terrorizing cars leaving the airport, which is where most people traveling to/from anywhere in SE Asia have to fly into.From the AP wire "Opponents and supporters of Thailand's government clashed with guns, knives and slingshots late Tuesday, in the latest sign that the country's long-running political crisis may be veering toward open violence in the streets."
Being so close to Cambodia, I’m sure a lot of people there have reservations about a revolution taking place but I find this all intensely fascinating. Especially experiencing thai culture and seeing first hand how laid back and non confrontational they all are by nature.
But why is this important? America is facing a severe economic crisis and we just elected a leader who has made a lot of promises, very similar to Thaksin. There are a lot of people expecting a lot, and there are a lot of people wanting to see him fail. The odds are clearly stacked against him and he may have no choice but to not deliver on some of the promises, given the situation he is inheriting. So what happens if the extreme right wants to protest? What happens if they are supported by radicals/hate groups/misguided militias? What happens, if by lack of funding, he makes the military his enemy?
I obviously do not want any of this to happen, and i have an absurd amount of faith in our new leader, despite the fact that he is a politician, but what if? Are you willing to take up a slingshot?
Either way - don't plan any trips to Southeast Asia and read more international news.
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Now playing: The Sounds - Riot
via FoxyTunes
Writing for a design magazine allows me to research anything that i can label as 'design.' So I spend a lot of time looking at sweet bikes:
I enjoy the latter because one thing I always say about bikes is, "there's not enough ways in which you can get concussed." A bike this unique also makes it less likely to get burgled.
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Now playing: Lil Wayne - Get High, Rule Tha World
via FoxyTunes
i just showed that picture to my coworkers and then i told them that it should be the cover for the issue themed 'design or adapt'. My argument was 'look, you either redesign the banana or the banana will adapt and become the dog. you know what i'm saying?' being very serious and saying this to esl friends is fun.
I also bought a jacket at banna republic. did i already tell you that?
Oh! i forgot this recent exchange:
'why is it so dark in here?'
'because i'm sinning'
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Now playing: Boduf Songs - Things Not to be Done on the Sabbath
via FoxyTunes
I did not laugh out loud, but i do have a deep appreciation for this joke.
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Now playing: Jawbreaker - jinx removing
via FoxyTunes
Food here is more seasonal than it is in the US because there's more reliance on locally grown products. Beans always seem to be in season, but fruit changes with a force. Fruit, or 'natures nerds ropes' as i like to call them, is one of the simple joys in life. I remember when it was mango season and I was dreading the end of mangoes. I'm not even that into mangoes, they are just that good here. Then mango season ended and fresh strawberries, pomegranates, and oranges flooded the fruit stands. Have you ever had baba baba ghanouj (spell check suggested: gonorrhea) with pomegranate on it? A-mazing. Or have you frozen fresh strawberry juice with just a shot of liquor so it wouldn't freeze completely and you'd have a delicious frozen treat? I have. Ever had 5 mangoes in a sitting? don't.
Sometimes we refer to periods of our lives as 'seasons' and that is usually taken to mean winter, spring, etc. What if you think about it in reference to fruits? sometimes you have to do without something to really experience and enjoy something you wouldn't normally take time to enjoy. For me, I would have never taken the time to find out that eating those little pomegranate seeds is delicious and theres no need to spit them out. I always thought pomegranites were overrated and not worth the effort, a myth i would have never learned the truth about if it weren't for the lack of mangoes.
Right now you might be experiencing the 'bad banana of your discontent', but you should take it in stride, because eventually bananas will be out of season completely and mangoes will rain from the sky.
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Now playing: Slayer - Reigning Mangoes
via FoxyTunes
My nephew is now four years old and apparently sleepwalks and says 'tarter sauce' as an expletive. I almost posted a picture i have of what appears to be ethan pooping in the yard, basically standing up, but i figured someone would get offended or it would exist on the internet until he was old enough to apply for jobs. I would hate for him to go to a job interview and get called out for pooping in a yard because of me.
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Now playing: White Denim - Shake Shake Shake
via FoxyTunes
One of my food staples is a dish called fu'ul. It's basically beans that have been cooked overnight, basically its like fancy refried beans but really delicious and a non fried protein source, which is difficult to find here if your vegetarian. Anyway, the best place to get this dish is right by my house, located in the street. I went with my friend nick, a lawyer who helps refugees get proper status and possible relocation. A couple of friends randomly showed up and we had a great time eatin' beans. One of the friends is an unrepentant super conservative republican. I appreciate how dedicated she is to her beliefs, even if i completely disagree with all of them. Its also great to have a very heated debate on important issues because so rarely do we truly interact with people who are so contrary to ourselves. we all say thats what we want to do, but most of our friends will agree with us at least 70% of the time.
Tonight i found myself defending unions, gay marriage/rights, and general activism. these are things i would never have to really defend in the states, but it was great and it really confirms your beliefs when you articulate them, i just dont think we put ourselves in the position to actually do so. So i applaud her for constantly putting herself in that position, because foreigners here are probably 80% liberal democrats and it has to be tough. I still think she's misguided (and would probably support manifest destiny given the chance) but that's my opinion, and as my mom used to say, 'opinions are like assholes, everyone has one.'
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Now playing: Q-Tip-Wont Trade
via FoxyTunes
Another installment of my favorite Medium Arcana series
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Now playing: The Get Up Kids - Close To Home
via FoxyTunes
One of my odd hobbies is reading about hypnosis and neuro linguistic programming (NLP), a communication model generally applied to psychotherapy.
I think my interest began when i was hypnotized at a show when I was 19. Everyone else was doing weird, over the top things but all the hypnotist made me do was hold onto the microphone and he suggested that i couldn't let go. I knew I wasn't hypnotised, I even winked at my friend as I intended to cause a scene and do something hilarious. The thing was, when it came time, I just didnt want to let go of the microphone. Then he asked me how long I had been on stage and I said about 20-30 mins. It had been about an hour and a half.
So I was wondering if you could be hypnotized in a language other than your native language, if you were fluent. I think this is a valid question and could even shed light on how we process language and what role our subconscience plays. So I looked up 'hypnotized in a different language' in google and the entire first page was about a Young Jeezy song.
More like Jung Jeezy.
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Now playing: The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble - Mephistopheles
via FoxyTunes
My mom just emailed me that shes going to meet me in richmond during my winter mid atlantic hangout tour and bring me a car. This opens up more hangout possibilities and allows me to see them a week sooner.
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Now playing: Blitzen Trapper - Not Your Lover
via FoxyTunes
I just saw the Hungarian movie, Panic. It was about ...2 and a half hours long.
i was on my second large popcorn before the movie started.
since i skipped dinner, i was Hungary.
this is the commercial that played before the movie:
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Now playing: MGMT - Electric Feel
via FoxyTunes
Apparently this is a pretty big film festival. how big?
big enough for Jack Burton and Goldie Hawn to be here!
I love kurt russell and i'm upset that i missed a chance to see him in person, but i imagine its simply a more three dimensional version of our previous encounters.
tonight i'm going to see some movie called 'panic.' i dont know much about the movie, but i do know its at the cinema that will mix sweet, cracker jack like popcorn, with salty popcorn -no questions asked.
i'm seriously skipping dinner so that i can eat a large.
being an adult: overrated
Kurt russell: underrated
Goldie hawn: more like oldie yawn
Zing!
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Now playing: Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
via FoxyTunes
The new spin has MIA on the cover and an interview that makes her sound like paris hilton's understudy. This is an excerpt from the interview, the question was basically '...so...you married a gazillionaire huh. how's that working out?'"
"When he asked me out on a date, I thought, 'I don't know,'" she continues about Brewer, with whom she's also expecting a child. "It's like crossing over to the other side. I've always had that f**k-the-system mentality, and his dad is so 'the System.' But then, they're the most liberal family -- they bootlegged alcohol, for God's sake. They're rich because they threw big, illegal parties, so I don't mind. "
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Now playing: Appleseed Cast - Marigold & Patchwork via FoxyTunes
oh yeah, i'm using this software that allows me to insert what song is playing while i'm typing. I feel it brings a deeper connection between you and me.
hold my hand.
remember when there were only one set of footprints? shhh.... i know. i know.
I had a most pleasant surprise last night. First, I went to a new place to hang out with friends and, although difficult to find, it was amazing. Its a rooftop bar/restaurant/sheesha place with a great view, atmosphere, prices, and it wasn't crowded at all. Second, my friend Grant invited his friend Elliot, who turned out to have lived in Richmond for 5 years in the recent past, and loves good music. Even though he had to be at arabic class at 8am he invited grant and me back to his place after we left the 'Carlton' at 2am. When we got to his place we just drank jack and listened to Pink Razors/Refused/Murder City Devils until 4am. He even gave me the back issues of Harpers magazine that he had! I love it when new friendships have parting gifts.
As i've said before, sometimes i like to check the stats of the blojj to see who is visiting from where, etc. one of my favorite things to look at is what keywords people search before they randomly end up on my page. These were on the list:
| descriptive words FOR FOOD HAMBURGERS |
| picture of hamburger as a butt |
I like to think of a person putting on all caps to 'yell' at google because the past 3 searches did not yeild the desired results. I just can't imagine what they were searching for before they resigned to imaginarily yell at a search engine. I guess if the only 'descriptive word' for hamburger that you can come up with is 'food' you are probably easily frustrated.
I also like to think of someone with seasame seed 'buns'
My good friend is getting a bit concerned for her well being in b'more. so what can i do halfway around the world to help?
make lite of the situation with jokes.
"Dear Alison, please don't be afraid of me, i really just wish i was a bollywood dancer.
Love,
Scary Rapist"
The fireworks started again and I was able to get a photo. I also found out that they are for the 32nd annual Cairo Film Festival which starts tonight. The kids love it because the films aren't censored. I can't believe this is my view:
My love for getting things done was reinvigorated today. I finished my articles, did the dishes and cleaned my room -all between the hours of noon-5pm. Oddly enough it starts to get dark here at around 4:45pm. I was rewarded for my efforts by an impromptu fireworks display that could be seen from the balcony! I have no idea who might be celebrating independence at 530pm on a tuesday, and I don't care.
Thanks to ambrose manor for turning me onto the church sign generator. if you make one that is hilarious please send it in a comment, i'll post the best.
I stayed home from work today so that I could write 4 articles. I'm not happy about having to work, but my day was made better by my wonderful roommates making a delicious homemade egyptian breakfast and sharing it with me. This is them making tea. As is customary in this part of the world, it takes at least 3 people to complete this task.
From left to write: Sabrina (french), Maher (egyptian), and Hassan (jordanian).
Last night I ordered pizza hut with my roommate.
I'm used to having my name misspelled, but notice the Mr/Mrs section of the receipt:
These comments deserve their moment in the sun and they're not showing up on the recent comments section.
I stayed up until 2:30a.m. to provide a cleaner, easier to read layout.
To all the nerds in the house: This is a three column layout and I want to alter the code to make the middle column narrower and the text/body column wider. I'm having a difficult time locating that particular line of code in the html, so if you can help, let me know.
People in hollywood 'huff' something.
The top three things I think that they 'huff' are:
1. Spray paint
2. Glue
3. Dongs
Effing Hardees. Apparently when some fast food places found new customers by offering healthy alternatives (ranch soup with salad bits), Burger king, Hardees (carls jr if youre on the west coast), and KFC decided to go the opposite direction (famous bowl). They indulge the 'hardcore consumer' with bigger, better, more intense food and let them pay for it with a credit card, because a research company found out that consumers will spend almost 30% more if they use a credit card at a fast food 'restaurant' (artery clogatoriam). This is the latest commercial from Hardees. It starts out normal, you know, with people eating invisible food, but if you still have an appetite by the end you are not human.
Crazy hip hop artists at music awards shows, remember how awesome ODB was?
I do...
I dedicate my 201st post not to Lil Wayne, but to his takeover of all media. I read he was on the CMA's the other night! I'm also surprised that mad magazine is still in production, but one hopes that Alfred E. Neuman in black face will help sales. One also hopes the back page folds into some sort of butt joke. When asked by reporters if he was concerned about possible backlash from the NAACP Mr. Neuman replied, "what, me worry?"
Lame joke, I know, I went for the easy kill.
I was listening to this swedish wonder this morning. He talked about his first kiss like it was the most amazing thing in the world and how he'll never forget it. I thought back and after a few minutes, I remembered. It was an awkward goodbye after an afternoon of playing mad libs. She had eaten sunflower seeds and drank milk the entire time and the kiss tasted super gross. I still rode my bike home so happy, i knew i had passed a milestone in my life. when we broke up I was so sad that i ate an entire box of fruit loops without any milk. Then i played sonic the hedgehog while gently crying.
I hadn't thought about that until today. Then i remembered that I randomly saw her many years later at my friends wedding reception. True story - I never talked to her because i was in a hurry when i shaved that morning and accidentally missed a spot directly under my nose. Once I realized my mistake it was too late and there was no way to fix it. I didn't want her to think that i dressed up as hitler for my friends wedding. The SS uniform was sheer coincidence.
"What really counts in life is that at some time you have seen something, felt something, which is so great, so matchless, that everything else is nothing by comparison, that even if you forgot everything, you would never forget this." -Soren Kierkegaard
The first thing that came to mind when i read this was last Slaughterama when I skipped the show and hung out with my best friends behind hollywood cemetery and watched the trains go by. It was so perfect and beautiful that I remember thinking that most people wait their entire lives to experience something like that. It was also the first night i had homemade cheese, thanks to chris.
I later experienced the complete opposite when drew turned into vomit monster all in my bed (and possibly in my mouth).
I wouldn't say that everything else is nothing in comparison to that nights events, but it was certainly something i'll never forget.
I didn't forget about the ol blojj I just havent had much to report. I've just been in thinking mode lately, I had an impromptu party one night with friends, and I tried to watch the movie 'the leopard' at an art gallery last night. The chairs were too uncomfortable to sit through 3 hours of an italian epic I had no interest in seeing so I left. I did find an egyptian hefe-weizen, which was delightful, and I made pasta. Anywhere you go, there's downtime. any job you get is still a job. Your friends are always going to ask you what you want to do tonight, and not have any suggestions so you'll sit inside and talk. There's nothing new under the sun.
I do appreciate the amazing weather right now, I found a bicycle advocacy/riding group (now i just need a bike), fresh fruit and orange juice every morning on my way to work, and a diverse group of friends.
Despite all that, I'm counting down the days until I'm in the states. You appreciate america so much more when you're in a third world country. Not almost getting hit by a car 20+ times a day is one of the things i miss. Amazing food is another.
I've been trying to find a gym here for a while but all the gyms are about 60-100 usd a month and located primarily in hotels and cater to foreigners. I can't really afford that and all I really use are the free weights so its hardly worth it. Its not like i'm going to use a hot tub because i always think that its some post coital stew. Anyway, I found a gym today that's only 10 usd a month and located above a barber shop on some back street downtown. It's great. Its like a private prison gym, you know the kind reserved for the well behaved inmates, only its outdated by about 20 years. I half expected to see one of those machines that has a giant lap belt that just shakes you or maybe even kettle wieghts. Instead all i found was 1 guy working out to the sound of ringtones. He even set his phone on the bench in the middle of the room so the 2 other people in the gym could hear it. OH! The 'locker room' was a bathroom where the bathtub/shower was converted to have 2 shower heads right next to each other, so you'd be standing in a bathtub with another guy taking a shower.
MIA demands for every show: 
Thanks to the Smoking Gun for getting this
The title is a reference to 'bigger cages, longer chains' -a concept that has been on my mind lately.
Anyway, I was trying to think of solid reasons to ever be involved in a 'serious relationship' should I ever have that desire in the future. The only thing I could come up with in my 30 min walk this morning was this: guys love awesome beards and hilarious mustaches, girls hate them, or at the very least would rather you not have them. Basically, your chances of meeting a girl with a kick ass beard is pretty slim, but all your guy friends will respect you so much more for the time and dedication that it took -something the fairer gender seems to overlook. BUT, if you get involved in a serious relationship you can have the most awesome beard and all you'll get is an occasional 'please shave that thing off', which is far outweighed by your drunken friends compliments on your sweet stache. Basically, a girl won't leave you because of your facial hair if the rest of you is awesome, but a girl won't get to know you if you look like Charles Manson's slightly cooler brother.
So there you have it, another thing to put on my list of
Reasons to get married:
1. you can both go to the same place in the peace corp
2. food sharing
3. bigger beards, funnier mustaches
In arabic most of the descriptive words/adjectives come after the noun. For example, you always say 'maya kabir', meaning 'water large' instead of 'large water'.
So we're planning a party and my french roommate, Sabrina, wanted the song 'eye of the tiger' but she didn't know what it was called so she tried to hum it. Then my roommate Maher said, 'oh! Tiger Eye'
Shortly thereafter my jordanian roommate, Hassan, convinced him that it was called 'old grey' tea, not earl grey.
I stayed home today to write 3 articles.
It is now 742 pm and I have written: 0
Loads of laundry done: 1
Naps: 1.5
Chocolate bars eaten: 2
This feels like college all over again.
I was catching up on Medium Arcana and I just realized what my friend Matt V. is doing. Matt, a frequent commenter, lawyer, adult, and all around great guy is creating fake flyers and posting them up around new mexico. This is seriously one of the best displays of high level humor I have seen in a while. If you're not Matt V. and you are reading this, ask yourself one question, "What am I doing to impress jimifoster?" If the answer is 'nothing' then you need to get up off your butt and create something hilarious. Click on the pics for full size.
From his site:
One of my top three favorite movies, Oldboy, is about to be tainted by Hollywood. Apparently Steven Speilberg wasn't content with ruining Indiana Jones and has set his sights on the best revenge film of all time. If that's not bad enough, he wants Will Smith to play the lead role! I honestly can't say anything that negative about Will Smith, it's difficult not to like the guy really, but not in this role. This is an extremely dark movie that explores the depth of depravity that a person can experience when it comes to seeking revenge, and that is not Will Smith. That is also not something that I think Steven Speilberg can direct either, this is going to be dumbed down and I'm sure the fight scene with the hammer will be taken out.
I'm a sucker for Girl Talk and I've never been a fan of the elitist mac attitude, so this video speaks to me. I've also had 4 ipods break on me within their warranty period and I've never had a pc that I couldn't fix cheaply and without a 'genius' (unless you consider drew or dave genius', which you might). I will say that the mac ads are much better ads as they are comical and present a logical argument as to why you should buy their product. This is just a guy talking about gettin sweaty.
Anyway, Girl talk is explaining how he has to cover his laptop with saran wrap b/c scenesters love to spill sparks all over the place.
I had the great pleasure of watching a brilliant movie last night. Persepolis presents a deeply personal coming-of-age tale about finding one's place in the world. Based on her bestselling graphic novel, Marjane Satrapi teamed up with underground comic book artist Vincent Paronnaud to co-direct this animated big screen adaptation. Marjane is an innocent nine-year-old living in Iran in the 80's, who finds comfort in music by artists as diverse as ABBA and Iron Maiden. It's amazing to see what people will fight to cling onto in the midst of an oppressive regime, a revolution, and a war. I can promise you will be happy that you watched this movie.
Link to download the movie with english subtitles
Link to the graphic novels
In a move that rebrands science as the new alchemy, Scientists have figured out how to turn tequila into diamonds. I've always said, tequila is the classier of liquors, or at the very least, makes me classier. Remember that scene in Rumble in the Bronx where they race motorcycles across the tops of parked cars in NYC? One time, in the upscale part of Cairo, I got so classy at a party I reenacted that scene, sans motorcycles or asians.
Anyway, who wouldn't want a mezcal cut with superior clarity and a worm in the diamond? I bet Debeers is upset that their nonrare source has become even less rare with neoalchemy. OH! I'm going to get one of those worm diamonds and put it in my wizards staff and cast spells of drunkeness (level 5) and stomach aches (level 12).
Party Wyzzzard!!!
While we're kind of on the subject of guilty pleasures, I love graphic novels. I'm 28 and I still read one a month, at least. So when it was announced that my favorite graphic novel, The Watchmen, was being made into a movie, I got terribly excited. So much so that I've checked out the directors website for storyboard updates and to see photos of the set design, etc. I know this makes me sound like the opposite of cool, but I promise that it is an amazing piece of literature and I hope that the movie is half as good as the graphic novel. Anyway, the new trailer came out recently and it looks so good.
Here's the trailer
Here's the graphic novel scanned (bittorrent)
I just remembered a story my friend told me the other night. She lived with a guy in Barcelona and he never wore any clothes. There was no romantic involvement, it just started a few days after she moved in, he stopped wearing clothes. My favorite part was that he would sometimes wear sunglasses and knock on the bathroom door in the morning just to say hello. My least favorite part was that he would clean around the house without clothes. This guy also liked to walk around the streets with a megaphone shouting random things, usually in clothes.
Sometimes you hear about someone and think that you're not living to your fullest potential.
Mc Chris is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. I can't say that I stand behind any particular album as 'good', but he has some songs that I really enjoy. This is off his new album, it's called Pizza Butt.
I would like to take a moment to give the comments their day in the sun. These are some of my favorites comments I've received in the last week.
On the post Scorpion Bowab -
The ball-grabbing sounds right up your alley. You should probably get hip to blood feuds, too. They may even be big in Richmond by the time you come back to visit. -Can't type sandwich
On the post Halloween in Egypt's Capital -
life in general
pokinatcha
on the cover
and a little bit of teenage politics
good
-john upton
On the post Tonight
"There are things that I assume will jiggle forever"
Wait, like that animated gif of that frolicking green dinosaur thing with the four sets of boobs?
I know you know it.
Just like you know about sunglasses that come in magazines. -Natalie
and
You could have said that you were just there to buy the band's demo CD and excused yourself. -Cantypesandwich
In reference to the Japanther Review
I've been meaning to let you know that your Hamburger(Hotdog) blog helps me get through the day.
I also completely agree with your Japanther review. -Chris
On the post Coming Back to America
Yeah, but we're gonna medium party to the MAX!
-DrewGood
and
Don't stay too long or you might be forced to join the armed services and perform a 2 year stint before being allowed to go back to your foreign job you hippy. We miss you and welcome you in our home. Both our toilets, as you may remember, face north... so in case you've switched from being a Protestant, we've got you covered. Safe travels homie. Love and stuff. -Antonious Maximus
...well, for a little bit anyway.
dec 12th - fly into dc. i'll have a layover in amsterdam and be post 18hr flight so friday may be a take it easy night unless something awesome is happening.
dec 13th - Fun times in DC! Hot tubs, sparks, general good times.
dec 14th-21st - party hard in richmond. bikes, friends, drinkfour, general danger.
dec 21st - dec 29th - party medium in vb, hang with the fam, dance nights with drew
dec29th-jan4th - wide open. it'd be nice if great wolfe lodge happened again.
jan 4th - fly out of dc
When i convert my money to USD i will basically have none so if you want to take me out to lunch, dinner, or buy me drinks/nerds ropes it would be much appreciated.
I love you all.
I got the text from my mom at 7am my time, "Obama won." I also got another text from America that had a similar sentiment. Then I wake up to find that he received almost twice the amount of electoral votes and that the democrats have control over the house and the senate.
Also, this is like my friday, I have tomorrow off of work.
What a great day. Great job America. Great job.
It stinks that I'm so many hours ahead during election day. By the time that the polls close in california it'll be 10 hours later here. I do get to leave work early to attend an art exhibition on Obama and the election parties will have no choice but to run til the break of first call to prayer.
One thing I forgot about the super shady bars is maybe the best and most important thing: you could spit anywhere.
I'm not saying I did, but having that kind of freedom is reassuring.
My old roommate, Nick, has a constant problem with his name. Nick in arabic means the same thing as the 'F' word. This can be humorous when we're out and about.
Tonight he took me to this amazing dive bar he found. The beer was cheap, they were playing the 'football' game that I wanted to see, and they give you a free salad and these bar peas you that you eat. Anyway, we watched the game and had a couple of beers in one of the only legitimate dive bars that i've been to here.
Then nick told me to go look upstairs. I seriously didnt know what to expect, but after the game we both went upstairs. It turned out to be a brothel! It gets better. Imagine a medium sized room that looks like a backroom party at a mexican restaurant. At the opposite end of this rectangular room there is a keyboard player. In front of the keyboard player, about 15 feet away from you, is the vocal entertainment. Its a guy that walks with those arm cane things, so he only had one connected to his arm and the other held the microphone. Why didn't he have a mic stand? We were immediately greeted by the 'sweet ladies' and who i assume were the pimps. I had no idea what to do, but fortunately nick got us out of there without either of us having to buy overpriced beers. so that was weird and shady.
Then we went to a shady bellydancing place. There are 2 requirements to be a belly dancer in a shady bellydancing place here: 1. Must have belly 2. Have never seen anyone belly dance. ever. It was gross and terrible. When the music sped up I actually dry heaved. There were things that i assume will jiggle forever.
On the bright side, it looks like Egypt will win the Africa Cup this year.
I wasn't really in party mode, but the party was a 2 min walk from my house so to not go would have been lazy. The big party of the night was put on by the marines from the us embassy, but i didn't feel comfortable supporting that situation. Anyway, there's not much to say, I went as 'guy that throws stuff at the world bank.' Next to me is my roommate nick, who went as 'guy that bought weird sunglasses and fake gas mask' and Maher who went as Zorro. My favorite costume of the night was my friend Karem who came in a full KKK outfit. It's pretty hilarious watching an egyptian dressed up as KKK dancing with a Sudanese refugee, that his boss is dating. Oh, and I had a conversation with someone about which MxPx albums were 'good'.
I should have left for work 30 minutes ago, but I'm listening to the album and felt I should post something about it.
Japanther - Tut Tut Now Shake Your Butt
The long/short of it is that its a really good, solid album. I could use more japanther in my japanther album though. It has 11 tracks, 4 of which are non music tracks, leaving you feeling its more of an ep than an lp. That's just japanther though, they are a combination of fun punk and performance art. This time they teamed up with Crass co-founder Penny Rimbaud and produced a more focus, but still unpolished, album. I really enjoyed the last lp, Skuffed My Huffy, but I'd say that this album is mildly superior and my favorite release by this band so far.
Of the songs that are on there, I think the standout track is Radical Businessman. I wish i had the know how to put the song up but maybe you should just go to a show and if you like it, buy the album. They play on Nov 7th in Richmond.
I didn't really know you could vote early without any reason at all in a lot of states. I got to vote via mail and I guess it worked because my horse is winning the race. I just read the poll numbers and it seriously said that McCain is up by 21% among NASCAR fans.
I feel like all the time I spent following politics was a waste. I could have just as easily waited until the last minute, found out who had the NASCAR vote, and voted for the other person.
McCain - The uncharismatic 72 yr old leader of uneducated middle America who has a 1 in 3 chance of dying in the next 4 years and leaving Palin in charge.
Please don't forget to vote.
Please.
Matt:
Totally story unbelievable.
I was in a group that covered "Eye of the Tiger," the Top Gun theme, and "The Immigrant Song" all at once. It sounded like what you'd think. Water large.
November 11, 2008 10:08 AM
"Grey Old Tea"
^^All you Gramanarchists need to pay for attention. Pray for detention. Stay for the intervention.
It would be Grey Old Tea right?
Correct? Affirmative? Give me a reading Houston.
I like that Darth Vader, phonetically spoken in Arabic would be "Dahth Fahder." It cracks me up every time.
Captcha word of the day is:
"patesha"
It sounds racist. Is that weird?