http://www.makepovertyhistory.org

Friday, October 31, 2003

Yesterday had fondue and white wine with the group. Ended up sitting in a mini-trolley trying to go downhill with Thomas at half past midnight in the rain.

Basic Cheese Fondue
1 pound Gruyere cheese, coarsely grated
8 ounces Emmentaler cheese, coarsely grated
4 teaspoons cornstarch
1 garlic clove, halved
1 cups dry white wine
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoons kirsch, if desired
Ground pepper
A pinch of nutmeg

In a large bowl combine cheeses and cornstarch. Rub the inside of a heavy saucepan with the garlic and then discard the garlic. Add wine and lemon juice, and bring the mixture to a boil. Stir in the cheese mixture gradually over moderate heat, stirring until smooth. Season with pepper and nutmeg. Simmer mixture for 2-3 minutes and transfer to a fondue stand set over a low flame. Serve immediately. Keep stirring the fondue to prevent it from separating. Serves 4-6.

Fondue Folklore
If a woman drops her cube of bread or meat off her fondue fork and into the pot, she must kiss all the men at the table.
If a man drops food from his fork into the pot, he must supply another bottle of wine for the table.

According to tradition, you must drink wine, not cold water, with fondue. A cold liquid will supposedly firm all the melted cheese in your stomach into an indigestible ball. (But keep in mind that if this were entirely true, a cheese pizza and a beer wouldn’t be the excellent partners they are.) - The last bit is true. Try drinking coke with your fondue and you'll end-up with stomach cramps because the cheese becomes hard. Obviously the person who wrote that hasn't tried fondue with coke. He/she should.

Thursday, October 30, 2003

which beer am I?

Hey, whaddya know...


Heineken. I am from Holland, ishn't that weird?
Yesh, yesh, you have a strong personal flavor
and some people just don't like you. People who
really know you realize that you are one of the
best.


Which Beer are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Pretty appropriate...

Wednesday, October 29, 2003

Office Space

I saw this movie again yesterday. Last time I saw it I was in university and not yet working. It was funny at that time, but now I'm part of the working class, it's even more funnier. I can relate a lot to Peter who sits there in his cubicle feeling all depressed and unmotivated. When he was interviewed by Bob & Bob - the consultants - Peter said that he stares at his desk for about an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. Exactly like me (well, I don't stare, I browse the web). I think every worker in a dead-end job wants to be like Peter, suddenly waking up and not caring about work at all. And of course being able to date Jennifer Aniston.

When it first came out, this movie didn't do well at the box office. But now it has become a cult movie. Everyone should watch this movie when they start feeling depressed about their work. It is exactly like the real world. Mike Judge is a genius. After all, it was him who came up with Beavis & Butt-head.

I'll watch it again soon. Office Space and The Office. Now that will be really fun!


Now for something else. On UEFA's website you can vote for the 50 best European players of the last 50 years. I've put in my vote (Cruijff, van Basten, Gullit, Rijkaard, Koeman, Zidane, Beckenbauer, Maldini, di Stefano, Puskas, etc). But now I think of it, it will be one of the old players who will win the vote. Why? Because if the average voter is like me, then I don't know half the nominees for the old players (you have to pick 10 players per decade), so you end up picking the one you heard about. But when coming to current players, everyone will know the nominees and they will start picking their favorite. So I wouldn't be surprised if Cruijff or Beckenbauer or Puskas or Di Stefano wins it. Just vote...


I'm still feeling a bit under the weather. I hope I didn't make the wrong decision yesterday by staying in and not going out...

Tuesday, October 28, 2003

Robbie Williams in concert, Geneva Arena 27/10/2003



I've been looking forward for this concert since ages. When the tickets came out I was frantically looking around as they were sold out within hours. Luckily my perseverance helped and I managed to get some tickets that same morning. The reason I want to see Robbie is because I think he's one of the best entertainers out there. And he didn't disappoint me during his concert last night.

Skin opened up the concert. After Skunk Anansie broke up, she went solo. The songs are more emotional although the music is mush or less the same. She's an amazing singer and likes to please the crowd as well. But we all came to see Robbie, so let's just move on shall we?

Being the real entertainer, Robbie started his show with Let Me Entertain You. It's the best song an entertainer can start a show with. My friend thinks that Robbie wrote that song just so that he can open concerts with a big bang. She could be right. Wearing black trousers and a black shirt with the words "PussyMaster" (very appropriate, innit?) on it, Robbie was channeling his energy through the audience. The whole of Geneva Arena (about 5000 people, packed like sardines) started jumping up and down, following Robbie's lead.

He then went through his repertoire, including Let Love Be Your Energy and We Will Rock You/Monsoon. The band was in full effect, and the 4 dancers (who were very very fit and looked as if they were handpicked by Robbie from the best strip club in the world) added much spice to the show, especially for the guys. During Strong, the screens on the side turned into a karaoke screen with all the words. During the guitar solo, it even said "(Air Guitar)". So when Robbie asked the audience to sing along, nobody can claim "er, don't know the words."

On Come Undone he took a girl from the audience, hugged her, kissed her, and even went down on his knees to sing his song to her. This girl took her chance as well, as she was grabbing Robbie's ass, but who wouldn't? Any girl in that audience would love to be her. And here is Robbie's appeal. He has so much confidence that he can do whatever he wants, and the girls will still be attracted to him. That's every guy's dream.

In the middle he took it easy and went to do his Vegas act by singing Mr. Bojangles. A grand piano in the middle, Robbie with a cigarette and a cocktail on a bar stool. After this song, he looked for "couples in love" in the crowd. And guess what, after a bit of fun-poking, he made the guy propose to his girl right there. In a Robbie Williams concert. Couldn't be any more romantic now could it?

That just sums up what Robbie is all about. He knows that he's an entertainer and he knows that the entertainment business is fake. So this boy from Stoke-on-Trent pushed the fakeness until he becomes real. This is a guy who grew up as an entertainer in Take That. He's the one who sang Freedom after he quit Take That, more a statement than just a song. He's the one who challenged Liam Gallagher to a boxing match. He's the one who sings "Is this real cause I feel fake" and "I'm here to make money and get laid. Yeah I'm a star but I'll fade" because he knows exactly what he is. And that's why he is such a great entertainer.

Before playing Kids, he said "I originally did it with Kylie. And then we wrote this song afterwards". Too bad the Swiss people didn't get the joke, but I was laughing. So he did do Kylie. Damn, I envy him more! He played guitar and singed Better Man, but made a couple of mistakes (he went to the wrong chord). Instead of blaming someting else, he just said that he's a bad guitar player and that it was a really bad performance. Honesty is not what you expect from a person in his shoes.

Feel became the singalong song as most of the audience knew the words to it. He did the usual "thank you and goodbye" before coming up with an encore. Before the last song, he introduced it by saying "this is the song that made everything happen for me" and then commenced with Angels. It's the perfect anthem, the perfect singalong song, the perfect song to close a big concert. Even though he is an entertainer, he still show lots of emotions during songs like Angels, which sets him apart from normal entertainers.

One thing I learned from Robbie is that if you are confident enough, you can conquer the world. Except America.

Sunday, October 26, 2003

I'm hungry. Hungry like the wolf?

Last night was a ball. Left my place at 6pm to watch Elephant and came back at 6am. In between there was three different bars (but all vodka red bull) and one club. A couple of spliffs as well. It was pretty fun. Don't know what happened to Kwesi though.

I have one more hour to sleep because of daylight savings time, but that doesn't help me at all.

I've been listening to Josh Rouse. He's cool.

I'm hungry....

Friday, October 24, 2003

Well, what do you know?

Congratulations on being manly (if you're a man), but you know you can get just as drunk on shots without drinking so much, don't you?
Congratulations!! You're a tall glass of nice cold
beer!


What Drink Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

It's either that or Vodka RedBull....

At least it keeps me warm in this cold weather. It's freezing!

Thursday, October 23, 2003

I've been working like mad this week. Well, at least for my and this job's standards. Working hard means staying til 7 o'clock, not enough time to browse/chat, come in at 0830, actually do stuff, etc etc etc. I don't know why I'm not happy with this job. I don't do much, I can always blame someone else if there is a mistake, I get paid good enough, and I don't pay taxes. A friend said that the reason is because I'm too smart for this job. But I don't want bigger responsibilities or a more difficult job. Oh well, humans are never satisfied, are they?

It's getting awfully cold here. In 1 month time, the temperature has dropped by 15 degrees. That's a lot for me. Now I have to wear my winter coat. I didn't even had a chance to put my nice autumn jacket on.

Oh by the way: American Pie 3 = The Steve Stifler Show. And where the hell is Oz?

Got to get a nice shirt for this party next month. I promised her I will wear a nice shirt, because she only sees me in t-shirts. I'll try...

Tuesday, October 21, 2003

If anybody asks me what my real job is, I always tell them "finance, you know, just making sure that 1+1=3". Which is exactly what I'm doing now. Oh well, at least it pays my beerbills and CD shopping habit (just bought Suede Singles today).

I'm going to be DJing on the 21st of Nov. Hopefully it goes through. It leaves me one month to find the right songs. I'll probably have to download 'em and burn 'em for one night although I'm against piracy. But I need the songs to be a good DJ. Any other idea?

Found this in the inside sleeve of Richard X' album, Richard X presents his X-Factor Vol. 1. Pretty good dance music.
----
Thank you for buying this music and for supporting the artists, songwriters, musicians and others who've created it and made it possible. Please remember that this recording and artwork are protected by copyright law. Since you don't own the copyright, it's not yours to distribute. Please don't use Internet services that promote illegal distribution of copyrighted muisc, give away illegal copies of discs or lend discs to others for copying. It's hurting the artists who created the music. It has the same effect as stealing a disc from a store without paying for it. Applicable laws provide severe civil and criminal penalties for the unauthorised reproduction, distribution and digital transmission of copyrighted sound recordings. To find legal downloads visit: http://www.musicfromemi.com.

Rich X says: 'The bell tolls for me then'
----

Monday, October 20, 2003

Got in today and received an email from a mate. He was sending an email out to all his friends. Instead of the usual "hey, wassup?" he wrote a 3-page essay. He obviously was smoking dope on the night he wrote it. But I like what he wrote, so here's an excerpt. A view on reality TV from my mate:

----
Sociologists say that one cannot underestimate the power of television. Everyone watches television, the rich and poor alike. Ignoring the fact that the rich get 100 channels of bullshit and the poor only 5 or 6, I actually rarely watch television. And I prefer to get my news from the papers. However, most of you watch tv, and yesterday I was over at a mate’s house watching TV on his 117 cm television. There’s one change from university, as most of you are mates from my university years. The toys get bigger. At least for boys. Besides that, no, not much change.

Reality TV. Which is the new big thing, isn’t it? Or was the new big thing, the numbers of the major reality tv are going down, the modern audience is notoriously impatient, what’s new today is passé tomorrow. Post modernist culture and all that. However reality tv is still economically viable and so more shows are produced. And as will be described later, this can have interesting repercussions.

For me reality tv has two flaws. The first is what makes the strength of the genre. That its ordinary people, like you and me, that we could have crossed a hundred times on the street. Etc. Well, here’s the crux. I don’t like most people I meet. I especially don’t like people who want to go on tv to be filmed 24 hours a day. Bottom line: most people are boring, most people are not very intelligent. I do love meeting people who are very knowledgeable about things I love, especially Music, or films, although in general I love people who are intelligent and passionate. I have not met many of them recently. However, such people include you, and the people on this list. So go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back. There.

The other thing I dislike is a much more specific example. One night I was watching TV at another mate’s house. Now I don’t go to people’s houses specifically to watch tv, except if it’s a sports match, but they always have the damn thing on in their living room and its hard to ignore. So there I was and Big Brother was on. Not the normal prime time tv show, but the satellite edition, where you can actually spy in on the house. It was night. About 11pm, and on the TV were a couple of boys in the house in their bedroom talking. Real time television, spying in on people. Well, perhaps its just me, but I’ve read Orwell’s 1984, I’ve seen Brazil. I spent six years studying the Soviet Union. I did not feel very comfortable about watching them.

I do love MTV though, which of course is the opposite of reality TV. Irreality TV. The irony is I was watching dismissed, a reality show which one of my mates really likes. As it was his flat, who are we to argue. I did not understand why the girl or the guy chose the person they did in that episode, but I’m not American, and I know they think differently. For example, the guy had to chose between a sensual Brazilian and a cute country bumpkin from Wisconsin. He chose the All-American high school girl. « Weirdo », as my almost-sixteen year old sister says . But anyhow, there was more than just the that show, its MTV after all; there was the 5 minute video clips - images and sounds force-fed on you. Ads that include full-length move trailers, and more images, and more sound, the deconstructed reality of modern culture. That’s the great thing about MTV, while it has programs you don’t switch on to watch them, you switch on to watch MTV. The medium is the message and all that, and I love it. I have this serious, almost academic, fascination with pop culture. More please.

Mind you, MTV also has jackass. And because of that it’s going to hell. But I’ll spare you on that one. I’ll also spare you on the Popstars / Star Academy phenomenon, because I sometimes start frothing at the mouth.

Instead, as mentioned previously, reality tv has had interesting ramifications. We then switched on to BBC world, and there was this show we only found out at the end called « the experiment ». I was hooked from the first few minutes, especially trying to figure out exactly what it was. All I knew was that it was no TV drama. Absolutely amazing. Reality TV as it should be, to introduce people to the complexity of the human psyche, to show the reality of all those that do not conform to the promised reality of « the middle classes ». The BBC in its kindness showed the URL below. I went on it today. I need to buy that series. While it got some bad press, how else can you sponsor science nowadays without the help of tv? Plus there was none of that dreadful « vote for your favourite guard », etc. I can’t fault the British for their public service broadcasting model. All countries should follow it.

We then switched to some French art house move, set in the banlieu of Paris, the poor, the immigrants, the dispossessed. A 1997 film called « Ma M-6 va Crack-er » . What was interesting about it is that for the first half hour we were not sure if we were watching a documentary. It was filmed in the same way, one camera, minimal cuts, to the extent that when the film was edited with the traditional angles, it became much less interesting. The dialogue was all in the street French that has the sweetest fuck-all to do with what you learned in school and the film was a violent thing about life in the ghetto and the people who live there. It made an important political commentary; for example, how angry do you have to be with life to be 15 and decide with your friends to smash up a car and set in on fire? Have you ever seriously felt the desire to do that on a Friday night? No, neither have I. It ended on a scene with a riot in the ghettoes. Something that was a serious fear in France in the mid and late 1990s. Then it cut to article 35 of the declaration of man and the citizen. I can’t remember it exactly but it essentially said that the citizen has an inalienable right, and duty, to revolt when he lives in despair and downtrodden by the government in power.

Which of, course, was what the brave Azerbaijanis were doing on CNN, clashing against the police to contest the fraudulent vole that would have given the president’s son daddy presidency. This the day after the New York times wrote « a son will inherit his father’s presidency in a strong-arm election that illustrates the failure of democracy and political freedom to take root throughout more of the old soviet union. » I felt cheered, in a sick kind of way, by the images.
----

In a weird way, I agree with his opinion. And, no I haven't smoked weed dope today.

"un menu big mac, s'il vous plait. avec coca."

Sunday, October 19, 2003

Saturday night was interesting. I was there sitting with my friend talking about life. It's the city and the comfort of it that makes me feel like a pig in a cage on antibiotics. I hope I can get out of this comfortable city. It's killing me slowly. I need some excitement, I need to be on my toes most of the time. Not just laying back half a sleep.

Afterwards ended up in Shakers. Weird club. The only club I can get in easily. Lots of people were there. Didn't have as much fun as last weekend.

I finished Michael Moore's Dude, Where's My Country?. I like the way Moore poses all these questions. I can see a clearer picture of USA now. The people with the power do not share the same vision as the majority of the country. And the way you get power over there is by talking with the loudest volume. So anyone who can scream outloud and frighten other ones, they will be in power. No wonder Schwarzenegger won the California election.

I must lift my hat for Alex Zanardi. He is truly a great man. Two years after losing both legs in a racing accident, he was racing again this weekend in the ETCC with a specially designed BMW. And he wasn't just making up the numbers, he finished 7th in the second race. He crashed out in the first race though. But it shows that even after such a horrible accident, he is still a racer. Too bad he didn't make it in F1. He is one hell of a character.

"sorry sweetheart"

Saturday, October 18, 2003

Thursday: frisbee, beer, caiprinha, fondue, wine, champagne, jacuzzi, shisha, weed. Add that all up and theresult is a huge fuckin' headache on the same night that lasted til Friday evening.

Duran Duran Greatest DVD
Just got me Duran Duran's DVD entitled Greatest. It's full of their videoclips, mostly from their fame days back in the 80s. I just looked at the clips, from Planet Earth to A View To A Kill when they were still the Fab Five. Duran Duran just received a lifetime achievement award from MTV for their outstanding contribution to music videos. And I couldn't think of anyone better in these days.

Just look at Rio. Here Duran Duran goes to Rio, get on a yacht and play with girls and money. It is more bling bling than current rapper music videos. P Diddy can spit out champagne, but in Rio they were spilling champagne as if it was nothing. All the rappers are showing of cars, Jay Z took it up one level by bringing in his yacht, but Duran Duran did that 18 years earlier in Rio. Women? Never a shortage in Duran Duran's videos.

You can call Duran Duran a boyband. It was to some extent. But they did play their own instrument and they wrote their own songs. Unlike current manufactured popstars who needs the help of Linda Perry, The Matrix, or The Neptunes. When boybands are just dancing and singing, Duran Duran was going deeper.

Union Of The Snake and New Moon On Monday had a story to their videos. It was weird but it compliments the song. Instead of seeing five pretty boys dancing around, you see five pretty boys as if in an Indiana Jones movie. For Wild Boys Duran Duran had a whole underground thing going on, closer to Marilyn Manson than NSync these days.

And of course you have A View To A Kill. The best Bond song ever. And Simon LeBon is the only one who can say "My name is Bon. Simon LeBon." The clip was one hell of an advertisment for A View To A Kill.

So it's great news hearing that these guys have reunited and are currently making a new studio album. Duran Duran is the reason why I love music so much. I'm looking forward for them.

"wanna get some porn?"

Thursday, October 16, 2003

It's been a busy week for me and movies. After Confidence, This Is Spinal Tap, and Matrix Reloaded, yesterday I went to see Mystic River. First I wanted to see American Pie 3: American Wedding. But the people who wanted to go to that movie couldn't go yesterday and the one who wanted to see a movie says "No American Pie. I'm sick of those jokes. It's repetitive and gross." This is the same guy who loved Bad Boys 2 and Spykids. Go figure...

It turned out to be a good movie, Mystic River. Three kids with a traumatic experience hooked up again by one event. And soon one thing lead to the other. It looks like a mystery, but it's not, because it was so easy to figure out. It had more to do with the effect of one single event of those three kids and how it evolved during the years. And I wouldn't be surprised if Sean Penn gets a nomination for an Oscar. His acting was amazing. But I still like This Is Spinal Tap better...

My knee is totally fucked up. I tried playing football with it and it hurts so much. Oh well, I might go to the doctor next year or something. Not that I have anything against doctors, but a human body is able to heal by itself given the right conditions. I just have to rest my knee for a while and it should be okay. That's what the doctor will say anyway, so why pay a fortune for an advice I already know?

"you lucky bastard!

Tuesday, October 14, 2003

I'm sitting here bored at the office. The boss ain't here, so when the cat is gone the mice are partying. Well at least this mouse is. So I'm swifting through some blogs. It seems a lot of people have things to say out there. I'm starting to understand this guy who said that blogs are more interesting than soap operas (well duh, anything is better than soap operas).

I watched This Is Spinal Tap yesterday. Man that is one funny movie! It's definitely one of the best. And all the big rock stars seems to have something in common with Spinal Tap. When Derek got caught in the pod, it instantly reminds me of U2 being caught in their Lemon during their PopMart Tour. I think Bono even said something like "that was our Spinal Tap moment". Or when Jeanine takes over, that certainly happened to many bands (The Beatles anyone? with Yoko?). If you haven't seen it, go see it. Now.

Then I watched Matrix Reloaded and listened carefully to the dialogues Neo had with the Oracle, Merovignian, dan the Architect. The Oracle says that he doesn't have a choice because they know what's going to happen anyway. Merovignian says that choice is only an illusion because everything is basically causality, cause and effect. The architect says that there is a choice but it won't change anything. Neo knows that he can't do much about Zion anyway. So he chooses to go save Trinity because Neo needs Trinity if he has to do something for Zion. The choice has been made and the Oracle, Merovignian and the Architect know what will happen. We don't, Neo doesn't, Zion doesn't. And that is why I'm looking forward for November 5th to see Matrix Revolutions.

"check please"

Monday, October 13, 2003

The package I've been waiting for arrived this morning. Now I can finally go see This Is Spinal Tap, one of the best rock-documentaries out there. Everybody's quoting this movie, from Nick Hornby to Kurt Cobain. That's why I just have to see it. I also got Office Space, the ultimate movie for the doomed working class guys, who are working a dead-end job just like me. Combine that with The Office and you have the real world, much more real than Idols or Fame Academy.

Last night went to see Confidence. A nice heist movie. A group of people, led by Ed Burns, are trying to make the ultimate con. The story was told in flashback. Jake, Ed Burns' character, is being held with a gun to his head and he has to tell his whole story about the con. But in the end I realized that we, the audience, don't really know whether he is telling the truth or pulling a con on all of us. I mean, is Lily (Rachel Weisz) really a pickpocket picked from the streets by Jake? Maybe she's been part of the group all along. How do we know that there was a Big Al? He was telling a story that would save his life, not necessarily the truth. The only truth was what happened in the end and from there we should conclude the story. So the joke is on you, audience.

"Are you joking me?"

Sunday, October 12, 2003

It's amazing what a couple of Heinekens, three pints of Vodka RedBull, a double vodka lemon, three B52s and sippings from other people drinks can do to me. I was having a great time. Jumping up and down, shouting, talking, smiling all the way. Until I fell asleep that is. I was like a little kid let loose in an adventure park high on sugar. Can't remember if I did something stupid.

Woke up 0730 in the morning to see Michael Schumacher win his 6th world championship title. But he was having a horrible race and had to resort to his usual trickery. Braking hard in front of his brother, causing Half to spin a third time in the same spot. After the F1 race, there was the MotoGP race where Valentino Rossi bagged the world championship title with two races to go. It's his fifth title (1 in 125cc, 1 in 250cc, 1 in 500cc, and 2 in MotoGP). Comparing these two champions and they couldn't be more different. Even though Rossi dominates motorbikes just like Schumacher dominates F1, he is much more likeable.

Anyway, got to finish my books.

Thursday, October 09, 2003

Bad Boys II

Some movies are meant to be long, over 2 hours. I'll happily watch Matrix Reloaded, Lord of The Rings, Apocalypse Now, even Jackie Brown which all run over 2 hours. But a Michael Bay / Jerry Bruckheimer movie? They tried it with Pearl Harbour and it sucked, how come they haven't learned their lesson and do it again with Bad Boys II??

In this movie, all that Bay & Bruckheimer want to do is blow everything up and make a huge box office. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are still there although seeing how they tend to blow things up, one must wonder why they are still cops. They would do much better work as a building-destroyer expert (you know, people who stick dynamite in buildings to make it collapse). Try counting how many explosions you see. It's just one after the other.

The story is simple. Two narcotics cops are looking for the biggest ecstasy shipment (from Amsterdam to Miami), find some clues that leads to Johnny Tapia and then they pursue him, blowing everything up that stands in their way. One twist is added with a undercover cop who happens to be the sister of one cop and the lover of the other. I just can't figure out why Bay & Bruckheimer need more than 2 hours to explain such a short story.

Of course, coming out of this movie my mate goes around saying "It was so good! I love it! bla bla bla". Me, I just wanted to be in one of the explosions of the movie cause it just blew my brains. Literally.

Wednesday, October 08, 2003

I have so much work today that I didn't even play football. That must be an amazing feat, because I never missed football because of work before. But I really had no choice whatsoever.

The weather is nice outside. Blue skies, no clouds and not too cold. Amazing, when you consider the fact that in all weather forecasts yesterday it said "big black clouds and rain the whole day". We can't even forecast the weather right anymore!

Arnold Schwarzenegger has been voted the governor of California, replacing the recalled Gray Davis. Davis never stood a chance against Arnold. Just looking at both of them, Davis is the uber-nerd, the nerd that other nerds pick on, while Arnold is the famous jock. He harrased women and is still more famous than Davis. I think this is the only way Californians will be interested in politics: when it is played by a famous actor. Hopefully California will prosper under an Austrian with a thick weird accent and an unpronouncable name.

"snorting tequila?"

Monday, October 06, 2003

It's been ages since I've partied til morning. But that's what I did last Saturday. Some mandatory drinks at home, then the cafe to meet up with the others. The plan was disrupted a bit when there was a houseparty somewhere close, so we went there. Drinks everywhere, joints everywhere. So it didn't take us long to get in the mood. Drink up, smoke up my friend. Afterwards the remainders (including me) went to Weetamix to check out this english DJ called Terry Francis. He plays in Fabric. He did play good music and I was there clubbing properly in Geneva. How is that possible? Stayed til 0630 because I was hungry. Drove around for food but couldn't find anything at 7 in the morning so I just ate the normal noodles. Too bad the weather was lousy so I didn't see the morning sun. I have to do stuff like that more often. Go out to proper clubs and go clubbing properly.

The weather sucks. It's cold and freezing. You can see snow covering low mountains already, so hopefully skiing season starts soon. Yippee!!

It took me ages but I was finally able to change the headlight bulb.

"You having fun?"

Friday, October 03, 2003

Have you ever had those days when you wake up in the morning and you just don't feel like doing anything? It was raining heavily when I woke up, so I felt like not doing anything. Unfortunately I have to go to work so I can't be doing what I wanted to do. The first rainy morning in ages. Summer's definitely gone.

I fucked-up my right knee. Playing football in the rain when it's slippery is not recommended. I need to buy some anti-inflammatory cream and put it on my knees. I also have to try give it some rest. Which I'll do in the weekend. No sports until at least Tuesday.

We were talking yesterday and we figured out how small this city is. Everybody seems to now everybody and it just goes round in circles. It's pretty weird. I must've been here for way too long.

"What? No beer????"

Thursday, October 02, 2003

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Wednesdays, as usual, is our movie night. We always go and watch the latest movie that's out (which is usually 2 months behind anyway). Last night it was the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. It's a story of some heroes ganging up together to fight a badass who wants world domination. The good guys consists of Allan Quartermain, Capt. Nemo, Mina Harker, Dorian Gray, Dr. Jekkyl (and Mr. Hyde), Rodney "The Invisible Man" Skinner and Tom Sawyer. Go check out classic literature and you'll find all these names. When I came out of the movie, I felt that they should change the title to the League of Extraordinary Stupidity. It was just a showcase for special effects. Storywise nothing made sense. At all.

Here's some examples of stupidity (that I bother to remember):
* Capt. Nemo's huqe-ass ship goes to London (by way of river Thames), then Paris (by way of river Seine), and then Venice (through the canals). This ship is as big as an oil-tanker. Going on a speedboat in those cities is difficult enough, let alone going in it with this huge-ass ship.
* From Paris to Venice, the ship sails on a huge ocean. Wrong! Get a map and you'll see that they have to go close to the coast and on to the Mediterranean Sea.
* Venice does not have roads where they can drive automobiles on.
* The automobile seems to go fast, but people can jump out of it and land still on their two feet.
* Mongolia is landlocked so it's a huge task to go there with that ship. And Mongolia does not have a freezing lake, because it's not that far up north. The UK is further up north than Mongolia.
* If it was freezing up there, how can Skinner walk around naked without getting frost bite.
* Mr. Hyde is not as big as pictured in this movie. He is the same size as Dr. Jekkyl.
* Using the train it takes less than 3 days to go from Paris to Venice, even back in 1899.
* The invisble man can hide in a small bubble-ship without being noticed. He is invisble, but he still takes space, does have a smell, and can be heard.
* There will be a sequel.

With movies like these, how can the kids of the future be educated properly. If you ask them "Who is Tom Sawyer" they will all go saying "Ooh, he's that cute American Special Agent who helped the Brits fight against some madman in 1899 using guns." No wonder the world is going down the drain.

"Pass me the joint"