British Airways Terraces Lounge, Heathrow, Terminal 1

Yep. Heathrow still sucks mightily, and I wont let it go. They suck because I have a full open bar in the BA Executive Terraces lounge, stocked to the rafters, and I cant drink because Im on Anti-biotics (I have to blame something so). I also have a bad feeling my luggage is going to be lost again... there has just been too terrible of a win streak with this airport this 2007 year (My last ditch attempts at the reverse jinx).

So anyways, Im glad for one thing so far... only 2 of the 4 Heathrow personel I dealt with today were nice to me, and not rude. Mathmatically, thats technically *infinitely* better than the '0 for' batting average I usually get out of this sorry excuse for a world class international transportation hub.

And this is from a completely objective observer such as myself. Not tainted at all, no maam. (To be fair, Dublin Airport sucks too. From the outside, it looks like an airport that belongs in Kinshasa)

On the list of things to do today: One last proper burger that doesnt have sugar as an ingredient - check, one last time wearing a hoodie / heavy warm jacket - check, one last time paying 1.50 euro for a coke - check, one last time being a minority - check.

Still a little sad Im not flying to Vancouver this year, though. But its safe to say Vancouver in December doesnt quite have bleached white beaches with sand like fine baby powder. Thats a big win. Decent availability of passable toilets however... ummm not so much.

A Christmas Carol..

Every year I do a little blurb on my favorite Christmas songs. So far on the list: Fairy Tale of New York (The Pogues), Last Christmas (Wham), Little Drummer Boy (Bing Crosby and David Bowie), & of course Do They Know its Christmas (Band Aid). I wanted to do another one of these posts in proper detail to continue on with the tradition... however, Ive run out of time because Im actually flying to the Philippines in 12 hours for this years Christmas Break (Almost 16 years in the making). Im in the middle of packing right now actually. So unfortunately I wont have time to do it right and prepare a decent introduction then frame it within a conceptual context that is somehow hopefully interesting (at least thats always my intention). So Ill just be simple and say it plainly and add Happy Xmas [the war is over] (John Lennon) to the list. Great great song, never loses its appeal, and unlike another xmas song from his former band mate Paul, it has a greater repeat playability appeal, the hallmark of any truely excellent christmas song.

Merry Christmas everyone. or er Happy Christmas, as everyone says over here.... which still sounds funny to me.

I might catchup with you again when I have 4.5 hours in the Heathrow British Airways lounges tomorrow. (I really still hate Heathrow, because, you know its a shambles)

Thwarted in Helsinki...

Santa Claus is Finnish... I never heard that side of the story before, but apparently according to the Finland literature, its true. Its a bit thin in terms of claims, the Dutch and Coca Cola can equally protest this quite convincingly, but at any rate I was in Finland this past week to go find Santa... (and do some work on the side on my way back to Russia again).

Was pissed about how this trip turned out because of 3 reasons though. 1st Reason: Heathrow lost my bags. Again. (third time this stupid airport did it this year!! Ive got to stop flying through London. Its a shambles).

2nd Reason: it Rained the last few days. Not impressed. When you go to Russia and Finland in December, you expect snow. Its like white on rice... I dont want no other rice. And fair enough, it was snowing when we arrived... and it was the good crunchy fluffy stuff, too, that really I miss so much so. Expectations were set Yao Ming height, and there was delivery. But the last two days it rained. Rain... the exact same stuff I get plenty of in Ireland... I didnt come to Nordic Europe for rain.. Ireland has plenty of that already, and especially since Rain mixed with Snow equals slush, which in my books, is just a few steps up from the sky raining feces. See? Global warming y'all, so I blame all you SUV V6 - V8 motherfuckers... (My future Infinity FX45 wont count.. cuz I recycle my canning jars, brush and pee in the shower and use energy saving light bulbs)


Finland in December is suppose be white, and not look like this.

3rd Reason: On Thursday, because of a late return flight to Dublin, we pretty much had all day in Helsinki to see the sights and *ahem* shop. Helsinki is absolutely brilliant for shopping, because of all the funky cool fashion here that I like the best. Not only that, but the scandinavian gadgets and trinkets are bloody deadly. If I had my way, all my house wares, furniture, appliances and whatnot would be from here. So Thursday was my day. Was staying at a modern boutique hotel too right in the middle of the city, with a room that looked like this..

So it was all lined up perfectly... all ducks were in their proverbial rows. No one told us though, that the only free day we had was actually Finish Independence day, a day where apparently nothing goes on and everything closes. EVERYTHING. Made no sense, like it was a waste of a valuable day in Christmas Shopping season. The big event for the day is some gala that everyone in Finland goes home to watch on TV. So rain, and no shopping It felt like a kick in the balls, with steel toe boots.

For revenge I decided to eat some Rudolph for the first time ever, Filet cut, medium rare, with mash potatoes and a funky spicy gravy. Rudolph tasted real good that day, let me tell you.

The List

So its Amerricun Thanksgiving week, which means the Oprah My Favorite things show is out, which marks again another year of the female audience jumping / screaming / crying insanely, displaying unreal "overacting" levels of spasm, like a baby who just spat out a pacifier, all really for something stupid like oprah gifting a panini press (you know the story, because all women are lunatics). And to be honest, this years list was pretty shit too. High Fashion Mu-mu fat people clothes? Uggs? A fridge with a LCD screen? Well let me backtrack, that actually is cool. but.. Josh Groban CD? Comeon... I truly was expecting more quality. Its sounds to me like a injury plagued off year for Oprah, must be the South African school scandal that has her not on her 'A' game.

What it means then is that its a good time to publish my annual Christmas wish list. And mine is better than Oprahs. Even though I wont be in Vancouver this xmas, just buy these things for me anyways, and Ill manage to pick it up sometime when Im over next... not to worry...

Also this is an active growing list. Things might add to it as I think of them.. like for example when I decide which next pair of shoes I want...

-Bodum Bora Bora Tea Press . Ive been living in Ireland for almost 4 years now, where they have tea 4 times a day. So I need a cool ass tea pot. And this one is double wall.

-Adagios Tea, Rooibos Cinnamon Apple. I need tea for that pot too. Gourmet South African Tea.. its the only way I roll.

- Banana Republic Cashmere Earmuffs. If you are going to get earmuffs... might as well get cashmere ones. I could rock these.

-- Paul Smith Dog Cuff Links. Actually what i really want is a Pimp "Spinners" cuff links, but I dont think they exists, or at least google says so.

-30" Apple Cinema Display. Ill even accept a 20" one, so I can marry it with a wall mount and a track ball, and install it beside the toilet, for safe internet use, while dropping a deuce.

-Kryptonite.

-Bose Quiet Comfort 3. I already have pretty good noise cancellation Sennheiser ones, but I cant let Jill have a pair and me not have them. No way...

- Luggage. By Tumi.

- Tee Shirt. A sweet ass t shirt that hopefully wont be dated anytime soon.

- The newest Lady Killer.

- The best Stand up arcade game of all time

- Karate Kid Special Edition DVD

- New Camera. I want this so bad. Along with a Canon 24-105mm f4/L IS USM Lens.

............

Eventually...

A bit late but below I have posted some of the pictures from the Greece Italy trip 6 weeks back. Remember how I explained how my computer was missing for 2 weeks? So thats why its late. And as for the 4 weeks preceding that, lets just say I was lazy as expected and well known for welching on blog promises, yet somehow, to my credit, made up for it by posting quite prolifically during that month. Temporarily I refound that elusive writing passion, a passion which during that period was almost as strong as my super-crush on Alicia Keyes (Im attracted to geniuses, and isnt she just lovely with straight hair and red lipsticks?). Lets try to keep it up...

So here we go.. and if you wish, again click to enlarge.


This is one of the greatest and one of my most favorite things about Italia.. Italian Cafes. Even better scene at night.


Rome shopping.


Spanish steps at midnight.


Mykonos Mill


Mykonos Locals candid


Positano Italy


Three years ago i posted Santorini photos. This time I went a little new, and took pictures in a different light.

Im back mac..

-No one knew this, but Ive been without my trusty macbook pro laptop for the last 2 weeks almost. I pulled a cheeky move, by sending the mac in for repair, only for the sole reason that my year warranty was about to expire and it was my last chance to get some thing repaired for free, even though there was nothing really wrong with the computer. I called em up, I made some trumped up complaint about the hard drive sounding "funny". The auth. mac repair crowd in dublin picked up it via courier, ran a few diagnostic tests, and actually found that the hard drive ran a tad slow on a few "sectors" and although only a minor concern,decided to replace it. Class... Por Pree.. dats por pree.. I had to suffer for it little bit though, regulated to the work laptop extended use at home... small sacrifices but Im back

-I have been a big fan of www.ngtv.com this past year... one of the better more entertaining things to come from the internet since all those secret websites that organize streaming tv and movie links. Its like Entertainment tonight / Extra, but except totally fucking cool instead... its unique its raw and fun, has a hot bimbo blonde host Carrie Keagan, she asks celebrities funky stupid questions that are the complete opposite of banal, and its unedited uncensored nature has done for entertainment coverage what south park has done for cartoons. And seriously, nothing is funner than listening to your A list celebrities like Robin Williams and Topher Grace repeatedly say "cock" and "motherfucker". "No Good TV", Good times. So Im glad its back, cuz I couldnt check that shit on my sterile work computer.

-One of my biggest pet peeves is when you find a toilet seat thats kinda like, you know, loose and wiggly. The seat moves around on you as you sit down, I hate that, cuz theres always the potential for the disaster situation of butt skin touching ceramic bowl (arghhh). My favorite toilet stall at work was like this though and I always had to be extra careful (my favorite because hardly anyone uses this one, low traffic and quiet). I filled in a few maintenance facility complaints to get it repaired, all the way back to January and have been frustrated because if it just got fixed, itd be the best work toilet Ive ever experienced. Its warm, clean, and it even smells good in there, like a 5 star hotel bathroom with potpourri. This week though, to my surprise it not only got fixed, but it got replaced by a new Gucci toilet seat... all shiny n blinging. Yep, these are the type of things that excite me ...

Destroyed..

Disaster. Ive destroyed my day. Ive never woken up to start my day at 830PM before...

Neww first, 6am Drunk..

Hav yo ever started drinking 5:45am in the morning? Like not in Denmarkk time when you are actually in North America, but woken up that early and ocompled to drinkg?

Tadgh did it too me... he woke me up at five and a bit, and forced drink into me... friggin irish.. and now its 9:15am and |Im loaded... whaththe hel ?

Im going back to bed... the irish are trying to kill me... Bushmills too... whisckey. Why would you call a whiskey after a mill with bushes... and its protestant whiskeys.. goooods times... ohhff to bed... have to stpp now..

Missed Connections

Life is overly complicated as it is, but states of mind when it comes to your social life is very cut n dry, to me anyways: theres single people, attached people, and the lovely children who dont give a shit (yet). Most will say there are more types, with permutations in between, but I definitely disagree. For example, to give a point of reference and add scale, if there is a girlfriend that flirts with other boys and partakes in extracuricular majumbo... then state of mind is not attached, even if offically serious with partner, engaged, or married for 35 years. Titles and reality are never always one in the same. It goes the other way as well; if one is officially not seeing anyone, but completely crushing on or in love yet unrequited; thats attached. You see to me it really is a state of mind. Plutonic friends of the opposite sex but still do everything together; attached. My personal favorite though is the 8 year old boy down the street whose clothes were always dirty, had constantly messy and matted hair like he just woke up, had dried up crusty snot beneath his nose, didnt want to do anything else except roll around in the bush, and plainly and innocently equated girls with the bubonic plague. Life at its simpliest. The point is everyone, or at least almost everyone, has intimate experience of being in each of the three states, even though one of the states is impossible to acheive again after the ages of 10-12. We know how they all feel. #2 and #3 are the lucky ones. Blinders are on, nothing else exists. #1 though, even though some say to prefer it because of the liberal aspects, is the hardest one... you can sometimes do the craziest shit to either get out of it (find a meaningful relationship) or stay in it while maintaining sanity (get your rocks off with attempts at meaningless intimacy, usually involving great game skills or the lowering of standards.) Its either or, no inbetweens.

Yeah, so somebody being single can be a great thing and suck completely at the same exact time. And like I said, it can drive people to completely insane levels of delusion, but funny enough, still justifible somehow. This is why I love the Missed Connections phenomenon in classified Ads. Absolutely brilliant. No one, and usually I talk shit alot like as if I know some thing about something even though I dont really, just like in the paragraph above for example, but this time I insist that there is not a single person who has looked up Missed connections section in the classified without having at least the faint *hope* that one of the ads is a call out for them. And if someone denies it, I call complete bullshit on them. One might say its romantic, in a completely ass-backwards way lets be honest, but endearing nonetheless. And entertaining as hell... like how can you read this and not smile?

Heading: Gorgeous blonde with pink top was doing her hair on the northenline yesterday btw 6-7
-hi you was on northenline, a beautiful blonde girl with pink top and white jumper, you was doing your hair on the tube, we only had eye contact, and shared a smile, i wasnt brave enuf to ask for drink we both get off at camden town, i was wearing grey coat, i felt something strange inside when i first saw you, mail me plz


LOL... "something strange inside", its a called a rush of blood to the penis.

or this one:

Heading: Man with brown teddy bear.
-I was walking along Hornby and you were driving in your hot red car with your cutums brown bear in the passenger seat. I waved, you waved..now I want you
...and the bear.
Please take me home. *paw*


This is all good stuff. Im not innocent at all in this either. Twice in my life I was a frequent subscriber to the weekly Missed Connections classifieds, but with real vested interest. During my first engineering workterm, i was commuting to Ballard in North Vancouver (at the time) using the Sea bus from Downtown. On the sea bus was this blushingly cute girl (she had short hair, just as I like, and looked like Natalie Imbrulia) that seemed to sit near me every time we ended up on the same trip. We'd catch each other looking every once in a while, and every time I made quick eye contact, I would freeze, my heart would stop and Id go clamy, all mostly because Im a verified pussy. And also remember, this was the year when the high socks, plaid skirt fashion was in, and she wore that about twice a week. Im Jello against those powers(and why doesnt this fashion trend come back, why? Did sexual assault go up as a result or something? Unfortunately this combo has been relegated to strippers only). That whole term, I checked for the Georgia Straight missed connections like clockwork. No luck. Thats what you get for being shy. (and no I didnt put an ad up, cuz thats embarassing; I was hoping she would, how more passive could you get..)

Second time was when I first started working for ABB and was taking the bus from Kits to North Vancouver. On the first bus, from Kits to downtown, there was another girl, equally lovely and show stoppingly pretty. I was so bad that sometimes I would let busses go by until I spotted her inside one of them. For a couple months, every day would be the same, get off at Granville and West Pender, and wed both go to the starbucks for morning double tall cappucino. Following each other in silence, mind you. One day, she smiled at me and said hi, and I subsequently had a mild heart attack. Dont remember much after that point. Never saw her again after that though, and my hopes were dashed when nothing appeared in the missing connections ads calling me out, i was expecting something like this "funny lookin dude that didnt speak to me while lining up at starbucks after getting off the Seymour bus". Again, Im a complete verifiable pussy.

And to conclude, and Im not going to take credit for this, but heres something cut and paste, an entertaining read:

I love reading missed connections just for the entertainment value. It's good to see how seriously deluded some of these people are. As far as i can tell there's four types of advert.

1) The Ali G

It's always written by some guy who uses textspeak and wants to pretend he's some cool brotha who's so chilled he couldn't even be bothered to talk to the girl. Truth is he works in Phones 4 U, lives at home with his mum and gets the bus to work.

The advert

Yo sista I waz on the numba 44 bus rollin thru ma crib wen I spies u out da corna of ma eye, u was boom bangin in my neighbourhood but I waz 2 bizee chillin listenin to some phat tunes to come and chek u out. So holla back if u wants to hook up and get ya crunk on.
Laters
Kaz

2) The sex crazed Borat

My personal favourite. In reality some sad IT worker who lives at home by himself and harrasses any women on the tube who accidentally looks at him.

The advert

Hey babies, I have never seens such beauties before I have sawn you on the London Undertube the Piccalili Blue line. You have many beautiful long black hairs and goldens smiles that makes my groins moist. I was the cute guy with moustache in the maroon dungarees wearing a green beret, I am official number one love man machine in Londons Town. Maybe we can meet up for a cup of beer and some sexy bedlove times.
Ciao Armando

3) The Executive

The high flyer who was on his way to work in the city. He has it all the looks, the great job and the charm, so why he's posting on Gumtree??!. In reality he's a HSBC bank clerk who lives in a bedsit in Hackney and spends his evenings looking through mail order bride catalogues.

The advert

Yah hey babe I would never dream of posing on Gumtree as I have lots of girls who want to date me but I had to say you were really cute. I saw you on the Jubilee line when I was off to work in my highly paid banking job in the city and you just blew my mind. I was the pasty faced guy in the Primark suit emailing my mum on my Blackberry GZ400 with built in GPS. Things is I have two tickets for the rugger at Twickers next week so if you would care to join me just drop me a line on my Blackberry (did I mention I own one)
Au Revoir Tristan


4) The good old fashioned stalker

Finally the old classic. Bad dress sense, bad attitude and bad breath and unlike the others what you see is what you get.

The Advert

Remember me the guy who eyeballed you in the park and then accidentally bumped into you and groped your lovely body. I felt there was a connection I knew you enjoyed it as much as me. I know you didn't mean to scream out for a policeman. Anyway we should meet up, maybe I'll come round and pick you up, after all I already know where you live.

your secret admirer
XXX

Simon Cowell

- Got the iPod Touch today, express delivery from a coworker who was in Maine last week (if possible never buy electronics in Europe, because they physically turn you around, bend you over, and do the business, pants on or not). Showed it to 4 friends at work.. and now there is nothing in the world they want more, save an Audi R8. It is a remarkable piece of kit, and its exactly what I wanted... the iPhone without the phone. The iPhone is eventually gonna get better, and gonna get smarter, gonna get 3G, and hopefully, gonna get less tied in to single carriers and become legally unlockable. Up until then this will suit me grand. Plus its thinner. I like thin. Just like how i like my chi......ps. I miss the days though, all of 3 years ago, when I use to call my 3rd Generation iPod, the one with the seperate function buttons that glow red, no color screen with a blue backlight, and superthick, and yet still cherish it unconditionally and call it my only irish friend. Since then iPods have become more popular than fully shaved female genital regions, so any exlusivity I once held is now gone. And also Ive upgraded already twice since then... so the prized asset which once held king status now has the same personal devotion and state of fondness that I hold for some of my shoes; no longer top ledge hollywood hills, but dwelling in the upper middle class.

- Im in a real upbeat and commercial for the masses mood today. So I thought Id post some wholesome feel good pop songs from the UK. Enjoy.

This is Leona Lewis, last years winner of X Factor. She is HOT. She was really cute when she won last year, but she is insane hot-hot now. I think thats the magic of having a personal make-up artist on you for a whole year, I call it the Kelly Clarkson effect. And to think, she almost lost the competition to some kid that looks like this.




On a related note here is the 2005 XFactor winner Shayne Ward. I like this kid, hes Irish too... but grew up in the UK. I posted him on Facebook earlier, but I like this song quite abit so screw it..



And here is his newer song. Another reason why he steps way above the usual boyband singer/backstreet wannabe crowd, he sings songs about the "no you hang up, no you hang up" relationship rubbish. He rules. Girls really go nuts for this guy too, like too much, unhealthily. I have a feeling though he is going to pull a Wentworth Miller one of these days and shock everyone one by going gay.

Im going to do a Seinfeld

Listening to random songs randomly right now and while laying back n listening, Ive noticed a few peculiarities with words in song. Lyrics are funny: This should sound familiar

"When you first left me I was wanting more
But you were fucking that girl next door, what cha do that for
When you first left me I didn't know what to say
I never been on my own that way, just sat by myself all day"

So this is actually from a happy song... Smile, Lily Allen.. but I bet you never notice the context of the actual lyrics when its playing, cuz for this song, youd be too busy bobbing your head to the poppy beat. Reading these lyrics in isolation however, youd think it would belong to some so deep sad slow song, like Fione Apple, Aimee Mann, or Beth Orton. But nope, not in this case, instead 12 year olds are dancing.

Heres another one:

"Your face is pasty
'Cause you've gone and got so wasted
What a surprise
Don't want to look at your face, 'cause it's making me sick "

Normally one would read this and think an angry song, moody and probably loud; Actually its a quite modest and catchy song, Foundations by Kate Nash. Its almost like the lyrics dont fit the song, and maybe thats why I like it so much, a lyrical juxtoposition (its a big word so I cant be sure of spelling, or dont even know if I used it right)

What Im also trying to say though, behind it all, is I really dig this new trend of English Female Artists actually singing with English accents... I love it. Stop trying to sound so American already...

Haka

Imagine if the Columbus Bluejackets made it to the Stanley Cup finals. Or the Arizona Cardinals made it to the Superbowl. Or the Colorado Rockies made it to the World Series. Or that Paris Hilton won Miss America. A travasty by all definitions possible. The equivalent is happening right now, as Im watching the Rugby World Cup on television (yet another stoic realization that I live in Europe), England has made the finals against the Springboks of South Africa. Its not a stretch to say 90% of world wide rugby followers are sickened by this because the English really do suck. Theyve played shite for a good 4 years now, and all they do is string together 2 impressive wins (against first the imposing Aussie squad, and then against the superb home-siders France who beat the All Blacks btw) and suddenly they are in the finals. No one is giving them credit though, and Im the same way. They truly are the Atlanta Hawks of Rugby, that just got lucky for a few games.

Everyone expected the All Blacks to dominate this World Cup anyways. My kiwi friends were broken and shattered when they lost to France, because up until then, it had been a foregone conclusion. Its why I bought little toddler Tyson a wee All Blacks jacket for Xmas, so he could walk around lookin cool. I just need to teach him some Haka moves, which will convert him in to the coolest kid alive. A baby doing the Haka? wicked... Anne Marie and Ron, In my absence please do this for me.

Hmmm... I realized this is not intersting at all to about everyone in Canada right now. But Im watching Rugby, so I cant think of anything else. Ill post it anyways... quantity not quality.

Woh.. ( ala Joey from Blossom)

This is something Ive never done before... post twice on the same day. In effect really, the number of posts that I submitted today doubles what I did for the whole month of August... and a few other months that need not be mentioned. Ill go with it though. Plus its 22:10 on the Sunday, and Im kinda stuck for something to do... apart from talking and playing with the neighborhood cat that just walked in my front door (He has stripes and looks like a tiger, I call him Hobbes. Currently my only friend)

HOBBES


Wanted to build on something Ive already introduced during my insomnia post from Thursday late night / Friday morning. Friday Night Lights (Forgive me for being a season behind, but Im in Ireland. Thats my defence, they dont even show it here, cuz football to them is Gaelic football, or to a lesser extent, Soccer) Started watching Thursday, couldnt stop, two days in a row I fell asleep past 5am, and unsurprisingly its become one of my new favorite shows of all time. I must admit that I did watch the pilot of this show internet streaming months and months ago, and maybe I didnt pay full attention while I was watching that, but I didnt bite at the time. It was okay, alright, a solid 6. But then I read all the pleas on the various websites I frequent, consistently praising the show with critical and public acclaim; the most prominent example being from Bill Simmons, the Sports Guy from ESPN. He practically begged his readers to watch the show, because although it was undoubtly one of the highest quality shows on TV going, its Neilsen ratings were not exactly the Georgie Best. The show needed help to gain more viewership and avoid being cancelled. But the fans of the show, the ones that did watch, loved it passionately with cult-like vigor, and I can now totally understand why: if you ignore the Football, it easily has the most accurate portrait of modern high school dynamics in all the history of TV; I honestly believe this ( I threw in the word modern, because Freaks and Geeks was just as good in depicting 80s High School adolescence). This is one of those shows that is executed so skillfully that it doesnt have to rely on any dramatic gimmicks, its just a plainly well written serial built on solid fundamental storytelling... much like the Wire, much like the Sopranos. And of these shows, the only way I could describe it properly, is that if you enjoy the input and stimulation you get from reading a good solid novel, namely strong and consistent character development and a well paced slow building story, and somehow want to simulate that experience the closest possible way on a television program... then shows like the Wire, Sopranos and now Friday Night Lights are the closest you can ever come. No contrivance, just good accurate fresh material and story telling, with three dimensional characters you cant help care about. No ridiculousness required.

And of course, there is Minka Kelly, the girl who plays Layla Garrity, captain of the cheerleading team and girlfriend to the Quarterback. She is shocking, so unbelievably and life changingly stunning. I have fallen hard, she is my new love, easily the cutest girl in the history of my eyesight, Oh My Goodness. She is just way too cute, its really not fair. I love this show.

Sad part is, just to kick me in the balls, I just found out as of last month she is now dating John Mayer. I really cant believe it. He is the guy that gets to feel up her boobs? ASSHOLE ASSHOLE, what is it with this guy? As if I couldnt dislike this guy enough already... John bloody freakin Mayer. Argghhhh... aparently she hasnt seen the facial contortions he makes when he sings? It shatters mirrors, honestly. The only way I could be more upset is if she was dating Stephen Dorff or Wilmer Valderrama.

And on that note, building on the previous singing out loud post, Music Im listening to right now:
Band of Horses ( the brand new one and the old one too. New Album has a song called Detlef Schrempf. AWESOME)
Cat Power
Corrine Bailey Rae
John Legend

Random music Post

I promised to myself to note the next time I sang out loud in my car, completely carefree, singing along to songs that I loved. Like the 'Free Falling' driving scene in Jerry Maguire, I truly believe everyone does this. Its like peeing. Even Grandma does it. It happened last night, while I was driving to Tescos to pick up some Taco mix, here we go: Last summer last year I started listening to Phoenix, a band from France. They are French, but actually only sing in English. And the refreshing and stunny aspect of this, they dont even sing like Pepe le Peu at all ( which would of been so unbelievably mindblowing, by its own right). I didnt even know they were French, and didnt pick up on it even though the recommendation came from my French friend Djamilia. WHILE I was in Paris that summer even (I never pretended to be the sharpest box cutter in the Airport lost and found). And this band is good. Really really good. I dont know why it took me so long to mention them, but the whole "what they are french?" reaction you get after listening to them, like other Frenchies such as Daft Punk and Air and the rest, I thought it was kinda shocking and funny. Anyways I sang loud, and sang often, but mostly hummmed and bobbed my head cuz I didnt know all the words.

Believe me anyways, you dont want to hear me sing. Dogs cry usually.

TV Insomnia

I dont know how to put this in words. Its 5am in the morning and I havent slept yet. Worst of all, its self imposed, with the normally inocuous task of watching a tv series. First time I did this, it was with Adam, Marty and the Sopranos. "Lets just watch the next one" he said. All their fault. And now its almost become habit whenever a good show comes around, the most recent ones were sleepless marathons of Dexter and the Wire. Five. EH. EM. And six episodes of Friday Night Lights later, I am where I am now. Its the bane of my existence and my biggest weakness in the world, the love / hate reality of TV serials now being available on DVDs and avi downloaded seasons; Seriously its now possible to burn through a complete season in no time whatsoever, in a vegetable state, and if you take a weak soul like me, and allow him to constantly press the button for more cheese.... Im gonna keep on pressing the button until I throw up.

I need to work in 3 hours. I suck. I am absolutely screwed for work.

But, uh, since Im so fubar anyways... might as well watch the next one.

Sorry this one is not funny or well written. but Im delirous... its 5am I said. This late in the night, Im glad I can speel.

Mykonos + 1 day

(Writers Note, I started this post in Greece, but didnt find the time to finish it, so Im polishing it off from the confines of my Irish couch. So its really not the same)

-Im in Mykonos with 3 friends, Australian girls (okay this is the part when Morris goes crazy again and starts invisioning porn plots, his ultimate fantasy) 3 girls..which I must admit is almost minimum requirement, in Mykonos unless youre gay. Not that Mykonos is totally Gay... but it kinda is. Which is fine, Im okay with that, but its so much easier to avoid dudes giving you googly eyes when are with girls. Let alone 3. So lets just consider it safer in numbers. Cuz you never know when you accidently end up at a gay beach. A nudie one.

-Met this one Canadian guy though that was a goof. And he was from Victoria... and he kept on saying "Im from Canada!" Argh... you tool. He was one of those guys. Giving Canadians a bad name. "Im from Canada!". Believe me, I can tell with the full on Roots kit youre wearing, jerk-wad. What made things worser (again, my word. worser, own it) was he also was one of those white guys that thinks he can dance awesome to hip hop, all Usher / JT styles.. but really he cant.. cuz he looks like a floppy loser going spastic. Almost there, but not quite refined, so in the end, really the result is idiot status. And spazzy, cuz he took up more than enough real estate with his footwork. Keep to yourself friend, dont violate the space. Yes he was one of those guys as well. He combined two "those guys" statuses. Unreal. I didnt like em and when he introduced himself to me in the bathroom... I told him I was from Ireland. The BATHROOM! I told Danni, Niki and Linda that there are some bad Canadians... like "that guy" guy.

- Just came from Santorini which was awesome... but Id have to say not the same anymore cuz Ive already seen it once, so I knew what to expect. Hmmm.. I didnt know how to feel about that at the time. This will probably be the closest I can ever complain about being in the Cyclades.

- 7 Hour layover in Athens. Arrive in Dublin midnight. ARGGGGHHHHHHH... will post photos later... but not much.. i didnt realize i had salt water spots on my lens... stupid gorgeous blue green sea...

From Roma

Si, Pronto. Quick updates on the fly-

- ?^òàùèé°ç§ I like all these new buttons available to me on Italian keyboards. And unlike French keyboards, they didnt switch around a handful of keys from the normal qwerty system, with the only goal being to confuse all foreigners. The french...

- I think I have to be part Italian. Not North American Italian (echh, who wants to be that Chachie?) but proper Italian-Italian. I was just doing some arthmetic in my head and it sums up properly... I like to look good, I like nice clothes, I like nice shoes, I like nice sunglasses.. and I like Italian girls... therefore... I must be part Italian. (And again, as always, the only ones walking around the streets of Italy that is not lookin all so fine all the time... the tourists)

- Last trip to Roma was all about sight seeing. Its been done. This time I get a whole day just to shop.. to SHOP. I told you, I must be part Italian somewhere... Im only missing the "overt confidence" gene. But maybe thats a good thing...

- Tomorrow off to Amalfi Coast.

Ciao Bella..

A fake letter just to remember

Hi, taking off now on this trip to Italy and Greece (yay)... before I go though, I need to pay you back for the pomegranate white tea ( I liked it alot ) never tried it before and it was splendid. Its climbed the rankings, now within punching distance of my fav. blueberry jasmine green tea made from loose leaf. Anyways, thank you so very much... it was nice.

Couldnt pay you back with more tea, cuz thats completely unoriginal.. so instead I decided Id just burn you the music I was listening to when I drank your tea; one of my favorite albums of the last 5 years, Broken Social Scene -"You Forgot it in People". If you find the time, I recommend you listen to it full-on through, from beginning to end. Its always the best way that way, I think, especially for a moody and original album like this; now you have a project. #7 & #11 are my favorite, delightfully sullen. And if you have it and know it already, then you are even cooler than I thought, and conversely, soy tonto, moi un idiot.

Well thats it, tit for tat.. take care of yourself... be good. if you spy me after I get back on an aimless wander, dont forget to smile and wave..

Teeths

Not too long ago, I discovered that I had a pain in my tooth everytime I bit down on the left side. This is my dominant chewing side, no-less. This started about two - three months ago, ahhh.. well... thats when it became a real noticable issue, anyways. Normally a logically sane person would go to the proper professional practioner to remedy the situation. Sore back? Go to chiro. Bad shoulder? Go to physio. Depressed? Go to a therapist, or cheaper yet, a licenced bartender. Need a Paul Simon fix? Go to Julio down by the school yard. I am, however, an anti-dentite... or more like it, suffer from acute dentistophobia. So my plan was, obviously, to chew on the other side of my mouth from now on, and pray to the mystic teeth leprachauns to heal the condition with fairy magic while I sleep.

Suffice to say, the plan hasnt worked out so far yet... but I was reasoning that I probably havent given it enough time; fairy magic dust is a rare commodity on low global supply. You need to give these things time.

I didnt think it was a big deal anyways, until last weekend when I realized I needed to act fast, which is any time when you end up picking chunks of last weeks chicken from the crevices within your back molar. It turns out I have lost a filling. So I came to the realization that I had to do something which I never intended to do ever... go to an Irish Dentist. (You know its bad when you're canvassing Irish mates for dentist commendations and they then recommend me to go up North to a UK Dentist instead of doing work here... like wha? A UK dentist being a better more professional option? Are you serious? Those kinda statements now put me in the frame of mind that I might as well be going to a dentist in the Congo).

I had to go. Even convinced myself that it wouldnt be that bad; Ireland is a modern country with smart, intelligent people, Dentists here cant be THAT terrible. Simple operation really, refill a filling. Clean it out the old one, fill in the new one. In the world of dentistry, even I know that its fairly straightforward easy, peasy, japanese-y. Well, I should take a picture and show you then the hack job they did on my tooth. My new back lower molar looks NOTHING like how it use to. First of all, the esthetics of it looks like a job done with a soldering gun and the contours and shape is all off now; it feels like its modelled after a valley / reverse dome with serrated edges around the perimeter. Who did they think I was , a Great White Shark? Piranha? Insult to injury, the tooth is more sensitive now than it was before. Ugly and non-functional, which is the worst combination of any personal medical service rendered. Stupid Irish dentists... and top things off, this hack job cost me €110. Thats half a nice pair of jeans. Once again, magic fairy dust is the proven better option.

ah ya Legend

And now before the recessional hymn, here is Sister Margret with a few Parish announcements:

- I find myself swearing more than I ever have. Irish. Bad Influence. Dominantly catholics, but they curse like a barefoot marathoner after stepping in shit. I dont know where drunken sailers and truckers get the worst reputation, when in actuality the Irish, in general, feckin swear shite loads more than any other *unts. Thats probably my best example, the use of "starts with a C and rhymes with Bunt" is unbelivably profilic. Everyone uses it like nothin, the same word which for most people, can be the most blasphemous four letters anyone can ever utter. But here, its like saying prick. People say it so much now that it dulls itself and therefore doesnt bite as it normally would anymore, in an Irish accent anyways. I can barely go an hour without someone mixing in "starts with a C and rhymes with Bunt". Maybe its the accent, maybe the carefree use, or maybe its the way they use it while quipping in a not so derogatory but matter-of-factly humourous way, (even though that doesnt make much of any sense). "Ya *unt ya, get the feck over here" I havent gone that far now, Ill need a proper Irish accent to pull it off... but if you catch me sprinkling a bit more fecks more often.. its the Irish in me. (feck - not as bad as fuck, just so we are clear).

- I have gone plentiful on John Legend, thanks to Jill. Been listening to John Legend as I try to sleep, for the 3rd night in a row. And I just bought it 3 nights ago. Hes a Legend. My favorite song is Where did my Baby Go?. This is THE song. Wow.. I love this song. LOVE THIS SONG. If I was a girl (which Im not) and John Legend sang it to me while looking at me (which he wouldnt), Id fall in love immediately and unconditionally (only if I was a girl, which Im not). But it is that irresistable and mesmerizing... but Im not a girl, and Im not gay, so Im lucky Im not in that kind of a position. This guy has powers. I wanna be John Legend... I swear a dude could look like Bigfoot, a midget Bigfoot even (to completely eliminate the tallness advantage, because chicks frown even more upon shorter guys), but if you could sing this song the same way he does while playing piano and the girl sitting and listening on the end of the piano bench, side by side, a piano singing midget bigfoot could STILL win over the likes of a Jessica Biel.. no contest.

- Finally, Huge huge huge huge Congratulations to my good, close friends Marty and Lorrie. She said yes... (although I think he neglected to go the avenue we previously planned, the engagement 50" LCD Flat screen. It seemed evident, anyways, in his latest email..)

- The second collection was for the parish "fix the leaky roof" fund. Please collect your personalized donation envelopes in the back foyer, next the candle donation box. God Bless... { cue ave maria }

The Youtube PierreElliottTrudeau

Its often said the power of the internet as new media is continually increasing in influence over the actual world, more so and more significantly than any other quantum step change that preceded. Or in simple terms, this time right now is the first time ever where the freedom to share and express ideas to large masses is not only actually remotely possible but realistically effective in its depth and breadth of penetration without the prerequisite of excessive power or money. Now the previous sentences may sound a little ambitious and declaratory, a total switch from my normal light-hearted pop culture drivel but its fact (also I cant believe I started a post with something as trite as the "Its often said" opening.. which is almost as uncomfortable, unoriginal and overused as the " In the Webster dictionary, the definition of the word [insert topic word here] is" opening ). This blog is a good example. It directly replaces and vastly improves upon the means of communication we used to use, like for example the multple addressed broadcast emails of the last 10 years, and the ability to converse over the telephone that preceded that, and furthermore the handwritten letters / telegrams of old school communication that came before that. Also we all know the internet completely runs amock in the territory previously held by TV, Radio, and Book / Newspaper / Magazine written publications, and is now trampling into the territory of social networking with the likes of MySpace, Bebo, Friendster and the Book of Face. Not only do we have access to all this information, but we also get all these tools to contribute as well, which is now wonderfully effective in shrinking the world, almost to the same proportions as aircrafts (although in a totally different dimension entirely, duh).

I bring this up now because like the hundreds of miliions of other chicos and chicas out there, Im a big fan of youtube. It has everything. Its a orgy of information. Also though, when you have everything ( or orgys), you also have alot of slop and mess (ie. search Michelle Malkin, the sorrest excuse for a filipina in the history of ever). Mixed in with the sports highlights, and the bloopers, and the chinese dudes singing backstreet songs, theres also hatred, theres stupidity, and theres slanderous and smearing commentary. Following upon the Fox News mold (spelling mistake? no I dont think so), theres plenty amount of punditry there to be seen, if you are for some reason too happy and feel the need to get pissed off.

THANKFULLY though, Ive comeon upon the whole "respond to videos" community with Youtube. And within it, I have found one guy that is intelligent, well spoken, well read, and even Canadian. Its the Youtube PierreElliottTrudeau, he is a video poster that has his own youtube channel, and what he does, for fun apparently, is video respond to the some of the misinformational commentary on Youtube. Loads of people go on Youtube and post stupid diatribes on social views, political views, economic views, or what they think of Ron Paul. He then goes in, and flat out sets them straight and absolutely makes shit of them, with pure fact, common sense and logic. You should check him out, He just flat out Pwns people. For example here is a video and his video response. (by the way I use to be in love with Elisabeth. Now.. uh.. I dream of pissing in her kool aid). Another example is this video and his video response.

So this is just something to do when youre unbelievably bored and youve already gone through all the latest Perez Hilton stuff.

Bonny Rait, Nick of Time

Im going to post some pictures. People like pictures. Screw Facebook (ha!). Youll see them just after a few thoughts.

- The Boston Celtics are my new NBA Eastcoast fav, joining the Grizzlies (I will follow Darko everywhere he goes, next stop, Panathinaikos probably) Celtics are now the Jesus, Mary and Joseph show. (sorry, but I have to compliment myself on my pop allegorical genius. if you dont get it, kamang! This is my sense of wit at its peak. It hardly ever gets any better... seriously. I guess ill provide the secret decoder ring later... but its never cool to explain your own brilliance and savy )

- I promise I wont mention that's its almost been two months since I posted. Since then Ive been to Bosnia & Herzigovina. War torn but still, Very Cool (notice the capitals? thats for emphasis). Funny enough, B & H, those are my nicknames for my left and right feet. When Im kicking ass.

- A week before that Didi visited me in Ireland, the first person from my family to visit. And luckily, it didnt rain. Much. I dont get it though why not that many people have visited me. None of my friends from England has even visited me, like. To the two or three people still reading this blog, I PROMISE I would visit anyone that lived anywhere near cool. Yet, except for a small handful, not many friend have seemed to reciprocate. This leads me to believe then, people dont like visiting cool places. If I ever move to the Bahamas, y'all are not invited.

- Youll never walk alone. Out of my developed fondness for the Premiership over the years... I havent really talked much about Football/ Soccer since the Champions League final almost 2 years ago. So I thought Id post my ranking of teams in terms of my support in decending order. The rules and logic behind the list: if I were to watch a random "match" on some variable "football pitch", I will always support and cheer for the team ranked higher on this list. Here we go:

1. Liverpool 2. Tottenham 3. Sunderland 4. Chelsea 5. Arsenal 6. Newcastle 7 to 19... Dont give a shit either way. Number infinity. Manchester United.

And for shits n giggles... heres the same for the NHL.

1. Vancouver ( duh ). 2. Edmonton. Number Infinity. Toronto MapleLaughs..

MLB.

1. Toronto Bluejays. 2. Boston Red Sox. 3. Seattle Mariners. Number Infinity tie: Yankees and Giants.

NBA...

1. Vancouver Grizzlies. 2. Seattle Supersonics... oh wait both these teams dont exist anymore because the League could go suck the sweat from me hairy bullocks..

NFL...

1. BC Lions 2. San Francisco 49ers (Tecmo Bowl version)

- Going to Santorini, Mykonos, Naxos or Paros (Greece) next Month... and stopping in at Sorrento and Positano (Italy) along the way. This is one reason why I dont live in Vancouver right now.

- Finally since August is about to end, I can safely say the highlight of my month was last weekend. I dont think there is anything more delightful than watching a fairly sparse dance floor all of a sudden be stampeded and packed jammers by big women going crazy throwing shapes, the moment Mikas "Big Girl (You are Beautiful)" starts pumping the speaks. Unfuckingbeleivable.. Ill tell you what. All the big girls with the big booties, flapping about, going absolutely nuts and singing along, knowing all the words. It was great. Its like witnessing Dancing heaven in the seperate heavyweight section. I think the only way you could possibly get more enthusiam on a dance floor is when "You SPin Me Round (Like a Record)" starts playing in gay bars. Or anytime Wayne is in a club, and Backstreet comes on.

Okay onto some photos. Again click on pictures for biggie size versions.

My sister and I travelled the westcoast of Ireland. First was County Donegal and Slieve Leagues, the highest cliffs in Europe.





Below Westport, in County Mayo, one of my favorite towns in Ireland.






County Clare. Went back to Cliffs of Mohr but its changed tons since Marty and Eric came. Before you were allowed to go right to the edge of the Cliffs which was ridiculously dangerous but unbelievably sweet. Now? Not so much. They blocked it off and you cant go anymore. Anyone from now on is Ripped off.




They did build a new Teletubbie-esque Tourist center though.



Some pics from County Kerry. They call it the Kingdom. The Kingdom of No Langers. (Thats a dig at County Cork. Langer is a bad word from Cork. I know these things now. Ive been here too long)







And this was just last week, A hike up the Cooley Mountains, near Dundalk with people from ABB





Jesus Mary and Joseph, the biblical Holy Family.

Jesus -> Jesus Shuttleworth -> Ray Allen, double threat: movie star in Spike Lee's "He Got Game" and basketball Yahweh
Mary -> Mary Pierce, Tennis Player French Open Champ -> Paul Pierce, whines like a French girl
Joseph -> No ordinary Joe -> Kevin Garnett, phenom

Stations

Its funny to catch things you do every once in a while and actually see how much youve changed. And you have to laugh sometimes. Well when its funny anyways. For example, on the weekend I bought 3 pairs of new jeans. They were each well over 3 digits in cost, and they were all designed and made in Italy. And this somehow has evolved to become my new standard for pantalons? 10 years ago me would of barfed at the thought. Regardless if it is sustainable or not, it was a bit of a splurge I admit, and Im sure my Mom and Dad would shoot me if they found out I spent that much on clothes when I could just as easily went to Zellers for 1/20th of the price, "Why deed djou Do dat! How caam you a spend so mach manie? dats es too expesibe!", anyways, I guess you cant slum. Im a classy mutherfucker.

With Holes im jeans.

Werewolves of London

- Before I start, I need to mention the most anticipated movie of recent memory premiering next week. It involves vehicles that are really robots in disguise. Go Bots. Perhaps youve heard of it? Ha.. All week, Ive been asking folks, "You watching Go Bots next week? I cant wait for the Go Bots Movie.." The looks of mental retardation I get, its gold, baby, gold. This is how I amuse myself these days. True story now, today, a lad from work, Ciaran, has been drooling about this Transformers movie for months now... he wont stop talking about it. Told him there was a Go Bots movie coming out next month too. His eyes bugged out and he totally bought it... and as a result milk went up my nose from snickering. "Oh you're taking the piss, arent you, you Canadian bastard.."

-Maibs was out here last week, and we toured bits of London and Cambridge and Norfolk, which was "deadly" (thought Id insert some english/scottish/irish slang, for context. These are the supplementary measures I take inorder to enhance the journalistic experience I weave. hack). But I got sick. And then she got sick too. While she was in Spain. So she got annoyed. Which led me to pay her off guilt money by offering Pay As you Go vodafone credits for her mobile phone. Even trade, by my math.


Its the summer for petes sake, how come I had to get sick then? Thatll teach me for lapsing out of my Ginko / Echanachea / Vitamin C daily cocktail and forgetting my Cold FX. I blame the Underground, the stupid Tube... its a cesspool of plague and disease. I convinced Maibs of this as well, its like a sauna down there, humidity that invites germs to perculate and expand, and with millions of daily users, its like we might as well drink straight from urinals and lick toilets seats; its almost the same.


Maibel sight seeing. While lying down. Cuz we were tired.

-Usually when I go to London, I visit my friends Ted Baker and Paul Smith (forget that loser/poser Tommy Hilfiger... he sucks). This time though not so much, too busy sight seeing and exploring around. This was probably a first for me, going to London and NOT shopping. I did stop by my other buddy Harvey Nichols for a little bit, and brushed through Harrods to check out the chocolate selection, but that was it. I know, no Selfridges, like what the?

-We visited my cousin in Kings Lynn, Norfolk. I have a niece and nephew there... Brian and Angel. Angel is 2, and is allergic to everything, poor kid, but is absolutely unbelievably cute with prominent eyes that stare at you like Cat in Shrek. Simply adorable. And Brian, 9, speaks in a hybrid Filipino Accent / British Accent that just purely blows me away. Thats the kinda shit Im suppose to record, and set as a ring tone. I can listen to it all day. Its a mix of Tito Boy and the Spice Girls and Harry Potter. Too bad I didnt take pics, but Im waiting for some to be sent via email.

-Posted some pictures. Tomorrow I will post Budapest. 2 months late, but Im bored and have no friends so I have no excuses.


Sandringham House. This is the Queens Christmas home in Norfolk, and also where Prince Charles first met Princess Diana. If you didnt know, click on the pics for big versions (sorry for the late notice). While we were there, Maibel said that she would love to marry Prince William and become Princess Maibel. Then we joked around and said that the kids would be the coolest pinoys ever... Royal Prince Efren and Princess Maritess...


Maibs, in her pist out waiting pose while in Cambridge, because our train was delayed.

Benoit

Change of pace.

Not many people watching wrestling anymore, and after this weeks tragic news, it could actually kill the sport all together. Chris Benoit, the Canadian Crippler, one of my favorite wrestlers of all time (with Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, Bret Hart, and Honky Tonk Man) was involved in a double murder suicide, with his wife and son; a completely awful and unspeakable tragedy. I dont even know what to say.

Equally shocking is the names on the list of Wrestlers that have died pramaturely, as I have just googled it. Unbelievably shocking. It didnt even dawn on me that most of these guys are already dead. And these are just the famous ones; including all the half names and jobbers, the list is double. If this happened so prolifically in any other sport or entertainment, the government would shut it down, or at the very least, all sponsors and business partners would exit stage left.

Chris Von Erich
Mike Von Erich
Crash Holly
Kerry Von Erich
Owen Hart
Chris Candido
Adrian Adonis
Yokozuna
"Flying" Brian Pillman
Eddie Guerrero
Dave Boy Smith
Terry Gordy
Rick Rude
Elizabeth
Big Boss Man
Earthquake
Dino Bravo
Curt Hennig, Mr. Perfect
Bam Bam Bigelow
Junkyard Dog
Mike Awesome
Hercules
Big John Stud
Andre the Giant
Hawk
Sherri Martel

Me Chinese, me no dumb..

Ive been doing a fair share of travel lately, long ass haul travel over a few short months that has gotten me a slight bit dizzy and exhausted: Indonesia and back, Russia and back, India and back. I was tired, and I thought I had earned enough credits to stay away from the long haul trips for at least a handful of months... short trips within Europe would be no bother. 2nd week into May, just 2 weeks after my last disasterous India trip, I was asked to go to China beginning of June. ...arghh.. fine... whatever. Come to think of it though China is not that bad, its not like I was axsed to go back to India or worse, Iowa.


It also gave me the opportunity to move on to Elite level on Air Canada, without even flying one single Air Canada flight. You see Air Canada is quite sucky for the flying experience, and Ive boycotted them, but its not a question of loyalty since Im ready and willing to return once they right their ship with new seats, which they are in the middle of transitioning to as we speak. Anyways, Im quite the sneaky scammer now with the whole frequent flier traveller points thing, managing to get to lounge level on the One World airline alliance (BA, Cathay, Qantas, etc) and Sky Team (Air France, KLM, etc). My levels on the Star Alliance one though (which includes Air Canada, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, etc) has been left wanting... only acheiving Prestige status, which gives you jack squat apart from a fancier card with slight sprinkly effects. This China trip though would put me over the top, if I flew with Star Alliance... and its easy street lounge action all the way on all major Airline networks.

Didnt work out though. I actually already had the China flight booked with Lufthansa (which would give me the Air Canada pts, follow along here).. but that was a flight segment going through Shanghai. Last minute.. it was changed to Beijing... so the only flight that was available through that City was on Air France. Merde. So thats who I flew with... which negated my whole Star Alliance, Elite Status, Lounges all the way deal. PLUS, get this... PLUS... Air France aint that great, even in Business class... namely because the cheese selection they serve you is only the "taste like ass" cheeses that only frenchies like. What am I suppose to take with my red wine then?

China was good though. Apart from the automatic language awkwardness I always get in Asia... you know.. the "they speak to me all chinesey, I put on a retarded face and stay silent.. they look at me queer"... type scenario. Its doesnt cease to surprise me how quickly this country is developing, with the great economic boom of the last decade. The roads, compared to other countries anyways, are getting really good. Building development is growing like weeds, looking more and more modern. And this time, I got to go through Beijing, which means, Great Wall of China, Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City. One of the few places that is distinctly on my world list of things to do.


Tiananmen Square. That was great just for the infamy alone. Forbidden City. Amazing, especially cuz now Ive been to the real Imperial Palace, not counting the Vegas Hotel or Chinese food restaurants of same name. And the Great Wall. WOW. I have always wanted to go to the Great Wall. Always. Since I was a little kid. For me it was on a larger must see scale than Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, Pyramids, Sydney Harbor, and Disney World (well no I kid, its tied with Disney World, lets be honest) And now Ive seen it. And the great thing here is, there are probably 3 or 4 more stations of the Great Wall I could go to, if /when I go again. I didnt even go to the most famous, and subsequently most tourist ridden one, Badaling, I only went to the Ju Yong Pass. Itll never get old.

Now, the only thing I need is a T-Shirt that says "I cant speak Chinese, Im Filipino" in chinese characters. This would be brilliant, the best Asian T shirt ever, maybe I can get Eric to work on that for me.

And oh yeah one more thing. Paris freakin Hilton. I tell you what, the weekend jail / police pickup / courtroom hearing saga was on full time and live on Chinese TV. Wow. I think now I would have to go to Antarctica to escape the likes of her. But I have an opening here to slag Americans again, so hahaha.. let me do it. In the Beijing Hotel, they had quite a few news channels... DW News (German), BBC News (British), CNN International, and Fox News Channel. I had an opportunity here to contrast and compare coverage. This is what I did, I ended up being held against my will watching the "Current Affair OJ Simpson" quality reporting on Fox news as they had moment to moment live coverage of the Paris Hilton proceedings. It was absolutely foul news reporting, commentary driven, with reporters and analyst shouting at each other their opinions. Bottom of the barrel. I would frequently flick over though to DW, BBC, and CNN International. At the sametime that Fox was going full Paris, full time for a good 3 hours straight... what was on the other news channels? Important things, like the wrap up of the G8 meetings in Germany, G8 discussions on the US's defence grid plan in eastern europe, the controversial G8 AIDs funding for Africa, G8 climate change initiatives, review of the latest Democrat and Republican leadership debates, and latest French Open scores. CNN International had 2 blurbs on Paris Hilton, but they were made in passing. SEE? This is what America gets, dumbed down Sally Jesse Raphael news. And Fox is the most watched news channel in the richest and most powerful country in the world.

And oh sorry one more thing again... just so I dont end this on a serious and commentary driven note, advice to yous in the future if you ever go to China. Never EVER swim in any swimming pools. I was staying at the Sheraton in Beijing, and by name alone, youd assume their facilities would be top notch. And it sure did look like it, the pool looked class. On an idle Friday, I went for a swim in the Hotel pool. I was wondering though why it was a little murky. After about 5 minutes, I noticed little gooey floaties that stick to my body now and then. Then I noticed all the chinese in the same pool.. clearing their throats all loud like, and hawking loogies straight into the pool as they played, just like how they do in Chinatown streets. ARGHH!! I was out of there in a flash, arms flayling, running away like I was in Grade 1 and I had just been kissed by a girl and quickly scrubbed myself down in the shower for 10 hours. Disgusting... I was dry heaving the rest of they day.



I found this on the great wall. STUPID HIGH SCHOOL BAND GEEKS. They get all the awesome trips.

Elementary School

You know Sudoku? The newest craze in puzzle brain food? (Apart from my aunt, who doesnt know what the rules are, so just puts random numbers in and then says "Im pinish! Dat wassant dat ard")

Well try this: Time yourself and name all your elementary school teachers (Anyone that is 12 years old doesnt count)

Kindergarten: Ms McCormick
Grade 1: Mr. Horn.
Grade 2. Ms Adams.
Grade 3: Ms Lady-I-cant-remember-who-got-the-whole-class-to-stand-up-and-say-the-lords-prayer-daily-even-the-hindus-and-sikhs
Grade 4: Mr. Rosen
Grade 5: Ms. Parker / Ms. Ng
Grade 6: Mr. H
Grade 7: Mr. H

That took me 12 minutes. I got stuck on Grade 3 and Grade 5. And for grade 3, I swear thats her real name..

{Post Edit note: 4 hours later.. Ms GOLDIE! Thank God... I was getting a headache}

Police vs Snow Patrol

Im currently in love with well done mash ups. This is one of the best ones Ive heard, coming really close to Hanson vs. QTip.

Also, with this I enter into my foray of posting bigamy. I put this on facebook as well. Blogger might get jealous now and send my computer a virus. Thank goodness I have a mac book pro.

Stupid Facebook and the Soviet Union

I think my personal facebook madness is finally slowing down... finally... which is a good thing so I can slowly get back to my normal life of doing sfa (sweetfeckall). Honestly i paid no nevermind to the endless invites id been getting over the last few months because id grown tired of Friendster and Myspace, so naturally I thought really this Facebook was no different. JM however performed an armlock submission on me until I joined last weekend... and further goaded on by Trisha who at the same time was kicking me in the head until I succumbed to their brutal bullying. I was coerced, manipulated, a little boy who was given free candy by the manipulative drug dealer stranger, even though he only likes healthy vegetable sticks. Next thing you know, Im up until 3am every night for the last week scoping out profiles to find out who has hot friends... disaster. I couldnt even blog anymore (ha) because i now had to memorize the multiple baby names of friends i havent seen in 10-20 years, join social groups with old elementary school cohorts, and discuss with a refound former roomie (turned lawyer) the merits of Jessica Simpsons new tan and her recent migration towards constantly exposing obscene amounts of cleavage. My friend Christine reminded me though that we must be good citizens and treat Facebook with respect... use it for good and not evil. And I am after all a good boy... so I will not let it lead my life. From now on, Ill restrict myself to checking it only once a day. Full stop. or maybe two...

Soooooo... as predicted India trip 3 sucked. Even worse actually than I thought it would because multiple things went wrong. First, British Airways lost half my luggage as I arrived in Kolkata, which left me totally ill equipped to do my work duties. In fact the bag is still lost, 1 month later. Sometimes I really hate airlines, I went through the past 10 years never losing any bags ever, and now that it has turned 2007, Ive lost bags 3 times this year already. WTF. Secondly, half related to the lost luggage, I pulled in a 103 hour work week, which is a personal best.. or opposite, personal worst; I cant believe I went 3 digits. Thirdly, I was in the Indian jungle again as you know, but this time there was no power or running water at the guest house. I went 4 days, working 15-20 hour days, without showering or shitting on a proper flushing shitter. And the worst of it was I was in India, and the BO of my local collegues would build daily to excruciating levels. It would KNOCK YA seriously, like a De la hoya left hook to the head... argggghhhh.. you dont understand.. I think we are talking Bigfoot stench levels, concentrated to a brown molasses substance that everyone would stick in their armpit... I could barely eat. The saving grace was a German co-contractor that was there with me, so I had a whinge partner to hate ever second of it with. Misery loves company.

Russia update: long, almost 1.5 months in the making. Okay. Heres my impression of the former Soviet Union;

-imagine every large scale projects ghetto youve ever come across in the States; you know like New Jack City type... The towers in The Wire... South Chicago... huge concrete decrepit buildings side by side, awefully designed to pack in sorry people as densely as possible. Now take that thought, and imagine a whole city where that was all there was to housing. A whole city of only project buildings. Thats where everybody lived. And then repeat for every city in a whole country. The largest country in the world no less (not including, so much, the bigger cities like Moscow and St Petersburgh, because they were full of party government people that had it better through the years). This is how the Soviet system operated, free housing free everything, but unless you lucked out or positioned yourself better or where good at sports, you were more likely to be stuck in a box within a big ugly concrete building like everyone else. A complete eye opener ( I didnt take pictures, for some illogical reason, I thought someone would steal my camera, it looked like a whole city of projects for fecks sake).

-this was the first time as well that I fully did feel completely illiterate. It was different in Russia than say when I was in Japan or Korea or China... cuz there you knew where you were, everything and everyone looked asiany, so it was always firmly within context; so naturally not being able to read characters didnt affect you as much. You were in a way, mentally prepared for the literal rejection. Russia though... it was different because everyone looked Russian first and foremost, but also European. It was a complete white wash, so subconsciencely you get tricked. Further compounding difficulties was the writing in Russian Cyrillic.. with backwards Rs and Ns, upside down Us and some 6s thrown in. I kinda know now what its like to be dyslexic. Most of Europe, even though there are different languages in each country, at least they use the alphabet, so you could in a pinch, when required, sound things out. In Russia? Please, feck if I know what anything said or sounded like.

-Still alot of russians wear those big furry hats. And all the women wear the jackets with big hoods with fur along the rim. A russian stereotyped that was confirmed, this actually delighted me to no end.

-Another thing that delighted me, seeing Ladas. Old shitty, dirty ladas, driving around everywhere. Brilliant.

-At restaurants? The table settings are like this: fork spoon knife (standard), big plate small plate (standard), water glass, wine glass (standard), and shot glass. For vodka. At every table setting. So awesome...

-Oh yeah, russian girls are hot. there is no joke there, its true. Wow. Especially when they are looking at you all bundled up with those crazy blue eyes through those furry rimmed hoods.

-In the end though, everything was completely new and stimulating, I had a ton of fun. Especially pleasing was the insider conversations we had with our Russian customers over dinner, who could barely string two words of english together, but just enough to get the point across of answering our questions regarding what it was like living in the old Soviet state. Amazing stories. Also, I kept myself amused by constantly thinking in the back of my head, how anyone of these guys could probably kick my ass in Chess. They all looked liked freakin grand masters. Paciba... ('Thank you', the only russian I learned to say properly; apart from Da and Nyet....)

Catherine Tate - Translator

Wanted to jot something down just to make sure i got a post in this month. Its kinda sad when Ive been so inactive that my only current accomplishment or actually "great acheivement" is making sure I perpetuate my current streak of posting at least once a month... no way i would want that slip... but kinda lackluster.

Needed to get something in though cuz Im off to India again tomorrow (yes trip #3), and this is probably my last day of internet access before then end of the month. So yeah, 3rd trip to India in 7 months. My first trip ever that I have completely detested and the only trip ive looked at as having totally no redeeming qualities in the slightest. I prehate this trip infinity. Infinity plus 1. Infinity to the power of Infinity. Id rather let a Blue Whale have mad sex with my ear. So, dont talk to me about it... just a combination of bad customers band location bad flight details bad social timing and bad work schedule . Bad Bad Bad Bad Bad Bad Bad Bad...

Just got back a couple weeks ago from Russia Paris Bucharest.. and I have a lot to talk about it... itll come soon...

Catherine Tate is funny though... enjoy