Alien drugs

Wow. Apparently President Bush is concerned that drugs imported from Canada might really be coming from a third world. Huh, is he thinking Venus or Mars?

Do you smell something?

I love this quote from Chuck D (formerly of hip-hop group Public Enemy), taken from an interview in Mother Jones Magazine:Of course voting is useful. But then again, I don't put a big glow to it. Voting is about as essential as washing yourself. It's something you're supposed to do. Now, you can't go around bragging, expecting to get props because you voted. That's stupid. You don't see people running around trying to get props because they washed up. "I washed today! I took a shower today!"But if you don't vote, you can't go around if something goes wrong saying, "Aw man, stuff just stinks!" Well yeah, something stinks because you ain't smelled yourself. You supposed to take a shower, dude, or you gon' stink! The hip-hop nation is supposed to vote, because if they don't, something's gonna stink: The draft gets voted in, cats get pulled off to war, the average person is gonna get shot up.

Oktoberfest!!!

Oh how I wish I were at Oktoberfest again this year. It started on September 18 in Munich and lasts until Oktober 3. There one can see a wide variety of German stereotypes reinforced, such as people sitting around in big halls getting drunk, lederhosen and of course the waitress carrying eight huge beersteins at once.The Oktoberfest website also has a cool game on it. You have to milk 4 unruly cows wielding bats, but if you don't hurry and their bags get too full they die. It's awesome!I also found out that as a grad student at Binghamton I can spend some time in Leipzig! Yeah! I'll be in Germany again sooner or later. If Bush gets re-elected, I hope it's sooner.

Just Say YES!

I love the Yes Men. I want to emulate them. They rock my world, from being on the campaign trail for Bush, getting signatures to reinstate the draft and take from the poor and give to the rich, to solving world hunger, to spreading the message of captain euro. And if you ever need a phallic monitor to watch your sweatshop employees (ensuring they don't waste time on such things like going to the bathroom or getting up to stretch their legs, or heaven forbid talking to each other to organize for collective bargaining) while you are on vacation in the Bahamas, they are the guys you need to talk to. Don't worry ladies, you can get one, too!

Save the environment- get out and walk (or take the bus)

So the other day I was following an old car up a hill that was spitting out black smoke. It had a bumper sticker on it that said "Save the Environment". Right.I think any bumper stickers that have anything to do with the environment should be outlawed due to the sheer hipocracy of the idea. Don't get me wrong, I have a car and spit out my share of CO2 emissions, but I would never put a bumper sticker that says "Save the Environment" on my car. That's like putting a bumper sticker on a cattle truck that says "Go Veg" or one that says "Buy American" on my Volvo. Duh.

New Dan Bern CD!

I think I must be catching whatever dark_zephyr has that causes her to order things on the internet. I just ordered Dan Bern's new CD My Country II. Yeah!! New Dan Bern songs to listen to. And I hate Bob Dylan, so if anyone says he sounds like Bob Dylan I'll have to kick you, or something.Another sign dark_zephyr's contagious consumption patterns are affecting me, I bought three, count 'em three, bottles of wine this weekend. I haven't bought a single bottle in at least four or five years. I am trying to convince myself that it's a good thing since I am supporting local producers and this fits in line with my attempt to consume more calories that are produced within a 100-mile radius of where I live. Right.

Brain-mouth coordination

One thing I learned this week is that you should never try to explain an optical illusion to someone when you've been drinking. While coming down Buffalo Street hill from the Chapterhouse, I was trying to explain to dark_zephyr (who was driving and sober) that if you are on Buffalo Street at night and you look at it right, you can't really tell whether you are on the flat part looking up the hill or on the hill coming down and looking at the flat part. Needless to say, it didn't come out very clearly, but dark_zephyr is smart enough to fill in the blanks and figure it out.So, I have orientation on the 26th... hmm, I'm kind of wondering what I'm getting myself into here...Comparative Literature- that means I'll be doing lots of reading in other languages, which means it usually takes at least twice as long. There are some classes that sound really interesting to me, though. Funny thing is, no faculty have been around this summer to talk about what classes I should take, so I'll be figuring that out during or after orientation.

Brain-mouth coordination

One thing I learned this week is that you should never try to explain an optical illusion to someone when you've been drinking. While coming down Buffalo Street hill from the Chapterhouse, I was trying to explain to dark_zephyr (who was driving and sober) that if you are on Buffalo Street at night and you look at it right, you can't really tell whether you are on the flat part looking up the hill or on the hill coming down and looking at the flat part. Needless to say, it didn't come out very clearly, but dark_zephyr is smart enough to fill in the blanks and figure it out.So, I have orientation on the 26th... hmm, I'm kind of wondering what I'm getting myself into here...Comparative Literature- that means I'll be doing lots of reading in other languages, which means it usually takes at least twice as long. There are some classes that sound really interesting to me, though. Funny thing is, no faculty have been around this summer to talk about what classes I should take, so I'll be figuring that out during or after orientation.

Village Idiot Speaketh

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."--President George W. Bush

Which one do you choose?

Wow, thanks to the two-party system, these are our choices. Be ready to laugh your but off. I love America!

We Won! We Won!

I hope you are sitting down- I am happy to report that my softball team actually won a game! Yeah! I had no errors and hit a double and scored a run. Yeah for me! Of course, I'll be feeling it tomorrow as I was catching and threw the ball at least fifty times. Oh yeah, sore back muscles- here I come, baby! The best part, though, was when I pushed the umpire out of the way to catch a pop-fly foul. Hey man, don't get in my way- I'm trying to play a game here.And about this, all I can say is, WOW! I mean, WOW! What will they think of next? Wired.com sure does have some, um, interesting articles lately.

You too can outsource yourself!

So there are two interesting articles on Wired.com- one about a guy outsourcing his own job and another on a wise way to spend time money and energy. Fascinating, just fascinating.Today looks like it's going to be a beautiful day- sunny and warm, but not too hot or humid. I am glad to have these enjoyable days (and nights) of summer before all craziness breaks loose at the end of August.

SPD, Spiderman and young children (or lack thereof)

So, diese Artikel macht mir doch ein bisschen Sorge. Wenn es so in Amerika lauft, denke ich mir ab und zu, naja, wenigstens gibt's noch Deutschland....I saw Spiderman over the weekend and found it to be even better than the first. Of course, I also saw that Kirsten Dunst is another young actress that has succumbed to the self-destructive Hollywood eating disorder syndrome. In the first one I was happy to see an actress, especially a young one, have a semi-normal looking body, but alas, I see another bites the dust and attempts to achieve a rail-thin figure.So, this is my last week of freedom before my sister's kids (a 6-year old boy and a 9-year old girl) come to stay with me for 6 whole days. Of course I have a lot of wonderful, fun things planned for us to do, but it is exhausting being responsible for two young people 24/7. I sure am glad my older sister had kids before me. Then I can just borrow them once a year to remind myself why I don't have any myself. I must also remember to thank her yet again for the very effective birth control.

Bush muss weg!

Jawohl!

Bush muss weg!

Jawohl!

Owwwwww!

Ok, I am pathetically out of shape. On Saturday morning I picked over twenty pounds of strawberries, which means that I was squatting for about 1 1/2 hours straight. Believe me, this causes some soreness in the legs and gluteous maximus. So then today I had a softball double header, which caused even more trouble, what with all of the sprinting around the bases and all. Hey man, other than softball, I don't run for nothing. Then I came home and after a few hours realized that my right ringfinger was black and blue. No wonder it was a little sore. Hmm, that's funny, I don't remember doing that.In any case, my team had a couple of good games. I played shortstop then 3rd base and we had some nice plays. Of course, batting is another thing- whether I'll ever conquer the arch of slow-pitch, I don't know.So, I wanted to see Fahrenheit 911 and be part of history and feel like I belong to something bigger and better, but of course there wasn't any room for me. The local independent small movie theater was completely sold out for the WHOLE weekend. Maybe I'll go on cheapie night this week (That's Tuesday.) Anyone interested? In case you haven't heard, Moore topped his own record for the biggest gross on opening weekend for a documentary.Ok, enough procrastination. I have some prepping to do for tommorrow.

Girl Talk Makes Me Sick

Ok, so last night I played the boardgame Girl Talk with jerryrigged, nadialiu, goodwicki, dark_zephyr and Mike, which I don't know his. In any case, I have to admit I would have never in my life thought I would play this game (if I had even known about it), though luckily it was modified a little to be a bit more racier than the original version. I won, though I didn't have to do anything that compares to the level of dedication demonstrated by others, especially the swapping underwear and ass-smelling portions. Not kidding.Then this morning I woke up sick as a dog and now have an intense sore throat and lungs. The lesson here- your guess is as good as mine. So I slept most of the day away today and am now ready for bed. Being sick really bites.

Hot hot hot

This intense heat and humidity is making me want to completely immerse myself in water. Jennings Pond sounds good right about now. And to think this is only the second week of June. What will it be like in late July and early August? And why is it that in the hot summer I always think that it's so much better in winter because at least you can put on a wool sweater and curl up with a warm cup of tea, and in the cold winter I think it's better in the summer because then at least I take off my clothes and go swimming. 'Splain, please.

Goodbye, Lenin (again and again and again and again)

So, I went to see Goodbye, Lenin for the fourth time. I think that's about enough for awhile, though if someone asked me, I would surely go again. I guess the fact that there is a lot of historical and political context from the DDR is very attractive to me. I also like the fact that is shows how government and policy affect people's lives. Not to mention that Daniel Bruehl is a hottie. Somehow it often seems to come down to that, doesn't it?So, I have had two softball games and they were both rained out. We're off to a great season. One clue that my team isn't the smartest is that during a pouring-down shower, waiting for the previous game to end and the umpire to cancel our game on account of rain, the other team was huddled under an overhang on the maintenance building and we were out in the open getting soaked. Right, not a good sign. We sure do have fun, though!

Goodbye, Lenin- Hallo, Berlin

Also, ich bin gerade vom Kino gekommen und habe den Film "Goodbye, Lenin" angeschaut. Es wird mir immer passiert- wann ich einen Film sehe der in Berlin gedreht wurde, fuehle ich mich, dass ich unbedingt wieder nach Berlin muss. Ich weiss nicht genau warum ich mich so wohl in Berlin fuehle, aber es ist einfach so. Wenn die Idee der Wiedergeburt treu waere bin ich bestimmt zum ehemaligen Leben Berlinerin gewesen.So, wer will mit mir nach Berlin?

Words of Wisdom from Kim Barlow

"You're a low-down, cheap-skate, beer-sucking cigarette smoker.You're a low-down, cheap-skate, beer-sucking cigarette smoker.You're a wishy-washy, tishy-tashy asking so much from everybody.You're a wishy-washy, tishy-tashy asking so much from everybody.Well there you are on my porch saying, "How's about a grilled-cheese sandwich?"Well there you are on my porch saying, "How's about a grilled-cheese sandwich?"Your horizon is a snow bank, a river boat, your nose and a liquor store.Your horizon is a snow bank, a river boat, your nose and a liquor store.You're a low-down, cheap-skate, beer-sucking cigarette smoker!"Words of wisdom from Kim Barlow. If you haven't every heard of her, you MUST check her out!

Lost Dog Loser

So, I have signed up to play softball this summer for the first time in more than ten years. I am sure I must really suck. I'll be playing on the Lost Dog Cafe team, which ironically has never won a game, so I should fit right in. Games are Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I better see you there to cheer me on when I strike out.

How can someone else use my name?

Ok, so I decided to try this thing out. The weird thing is that when I tried to sign up for the username "riddler" it was already taken. But if you go to that journal, it's not even being used. How can someone else use my name for a username? It's mine dammit! It's just not fair. I also tried riddle_me_this, theriddler, and a variety of such combinations. So now, I am riddleita, the little riddler so to speak.So here begins my live journal...yet another reason to be chained to a computer all day long. For you old-timers, any recommendations?