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…

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???

what a gorgeous day in ffm!!!

Here’s some more random pics from this weekend…

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!!!

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…

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…

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 😉

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?

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….

The bike taxis are out in frankfurt….a sure sign of spring…