Nonsense, Drivel, and Balderdash

OK folks, the time has come. The new is new and the old is old. Its time to move on (maybe). Check it out

I have tried to get the blogger comments going, in addition to the other comments thing. The reason for this is that many people have complained that they cannot use the other one. Either way, I am sure that I have messed up the code for this page... hopefully everything runs smoothly.

Turkey and potatoes and family and friends. Yesterday I had nothing of the sort. I sat on a plane the whole day. The flight attendant came by towards the end of the flight and asked me if I wanted a cheese or a turkey sandwich. I chose turkey, it being thanksgiving and all. Upon arriving in Boston I took the T (subway, for the non Bostonian) to the North Station and then waited there for an hour for the commuter rail to take me up to the north shore, where Gordon is. As I waited, I crossed the wet street and went into the 7-11 and bought a Slurpee and a bag of Doritos, a sumptuous thanksgiving feast. Naturally, I bought the largest Slurpee available, because it was Thanksgiving after all. As I exited the 7-11, I gave a buck to a homeless guy and I headed back into the commuter station. Once inside, I sat down on a wooden bench and munched on my ranch flavored Doritos. The cold slurpee cup kept leaving large water rings on the seat next to me, so I moved it to the floor. I noticed that ...

(ten points for whoever can identify the title of this post as a song sung by ____________) Monday I spent the day finishing up my Classical lit. paper. I thought it turned out decent, though maybe a bit too broad themed in nature. I highly recommend the Aeneid. It is so well written. Virgil has some of the most powerful similes and metaphors that I have ever read. His thematic symbolism isnt as subtle as we may like now a day, but I like it anyway. Today is my last day here in Spain. I will be leaving in half an hour to hopefully finish the whole process of renewing my residency. In contrast with my last visit, this time I have done very little. Yesterday I slept until 3:30 PM, which was heavenly. Then that night I went into Madrid and went to see a movie with Kenny. We saw an Argentinean film by the same director (and cast, pretty much) as "El hijo de la novia." It was entitled "Luna de Avellaneda." It was a bit too long and drawn out, but other than that, it was...

OK, here is the deal.I am in Spain. Yes, yes... I know. "In Spain again??" you cry outraged. Yes, when I was here last time I had to get my residency renewed, unfortunately they told me to come back this week to finish up the process. So, with little option but to come back.... here I am. On the negative side of things, I was going to go see my good friend Charles and his wife Jen in Florida for Thanksgiving. Alas, now I cannot. Maybe I will see them in the spring, my plane tickets will still be good. Another bad thing is that I have to go back to the states ON Thanksgiving Day, because it was the only way we could find a ticket that was cheap enough. So I dont get a thanksgiving at all. This week has been a good one. No other way to look at it. It was packed with goodness and also a lot of work. In fact, I write this as I take a break from writing my Classical Lit paper on the Aeneid. I suppose that the fun really started on Wednesday when some of my friends, mostly internat...

This is the way teaching should be. I hope I make as good a teacher as this lady. My respects to her.

I had a really odd dream last night. I was at my house in spain, and I went outside and saw a very large rat. It was very hostile and I worried that it might bite me and give me some diasease. I tried to kill it. I caught it but it would not die. I tried choking it to death, stomping on it and even beating it to death, but nothing worked. The more I tried to kill it in vain, the more frightened of it I became. Finally I let it go and watched it scamper down into a hole it had dug in the ground. When I told people about it, no one really believed me. I took them over to see the hole, but it still wasnt proof enough (my dog digs holes after all). As we were looking at the hole, it emerged, but it had changed. It had grown bigger, about the size of a dog and had grown more hair. Everyone thought it was a dog, and everyone was delighted by it. I tried to explain things, but no one was listening. I pointed to its sleek rat-like tail, but no one seemed to notice. It gave me a look as if to s...

Esto es demasiado bueno para no ponerlo aqui. Jeje, mi madre esta mal de la olla... anda que no mola la tia. En vez de escribirme y decirme que ha roto otro movil me lo pone asi... "Lamentamos reportar que despues de meses sin rastro, la asesina de moviles se ha hecho sentir de nuevo en las calles de Madrid con maneras nuevas y creativas de quitarle la vida a moviles inocentes. La ultima victima ha sido un pobre Nokia trabajador, que vivia una vida tranquila. No frequentaba clubes nocturnos, ni lugares de marcha. Iba del bolso al escritorio, cumpiendo como buen ciudadano movil. No se sabe el motivo del asesinato, ni el porque de la mania que tiene la asesina con estos aparatitos que no hacen mas que el bien. No quedo satisfecha arrojando la victima como en otras ocasiones desde grandes aturas al duro pavimiento del garaje, ni matandole gota a gota estilo tortura china, con  botella de Fontvella, ni dejandole morir paultatinamente por falta de bateria y abandono en el Talgo Barcel...

For those of you who abhor the pop music industry and its various equivalents on television, etc... Click HERE . Some people hate it just as much as you do.

I just finished watching Francois Truffaut's film "Day for Night." It was amazing. It was, quite simply, one of the best movies I have ever seen. The script was excellent, the filming was great, set direction was phenomenal. Yes, I loved this film. I dont even want to talk about it, I dont want to ruin the magic. But I can say that it is the first movie that has captivated me in a while.

"Give me liberty or give me death" Patrick Henry said. Well, I dunno about him, but give me life. I would rather say, like Achilles, I'd rather slave for another man...than rule down here over all the breathless dead. The new Hampsire motto is "Live free or Die," but I wonder, if we suddenly passed a law that enslaved all the people of New Hampshire... how many would actually rather be dead?

It has been a couple of days since last I wrote something of substance here. This weekend has been a very satisfying one. Friday seemed like it might bring portents of bad times to come, but fortunately this was not the case. The omen that made me scared was the snow. Yes, we had our first snow on friday. It started as rain, and as the day got colder it turned to slush, and finally snow. Because of this slow progression, the snow was not even that pretty. Besides that, the rain from earlier in the day froze all over the ground, causing more than one person to fall embarrisingly. Anyway the weekend breakdown goes like this: Friday I went to the freshman recital, which is where the freshmen music majors show their stuff. They are, of course, really bad for the most part, but it was fun to see the potential that many of them had. When I walked out, there were about 4 inches of snow covering the campus. I sighed, and tried not to think about it, instead focusing on the fact that I had som...

No more words needed.

It is past two in the morning and I just got back from a concert in Boston. One of my goals this year was to go see either Pedro the Lion, or Starflyer 59. When I went to look them up on the internet, to see if they had any shows coming up, I realized that not only were they both going to be playing in Boston, but that they were touring together. For the price of one ticket, I got to see two of the bands that I have always wanted to see. Even better, the tickets were only 12 dollars. So tonight was the big night, I piled in a van with some other random people whom I had met through someone that knew someone that knew that they were going to the concert and had room to take me. We arrived early, as to get a nice spot close to the stage, but we arrived (as far as I am concerned) way to early, because the concert started over half an hour late so we were standing around for over an hour. Once the concert got underway everything was fine. Starflyer opened for Pedro. They were actually bet...

1- Cutting your fingernails with toenail clippers... doesnt do a very hot job at it. Just an observation. 2- Go read Daniels description of Madrid , maybe it is cause I am feeling nostalgic right now, but I liked it. 3- Oh man. I love this sort of thing , so funny. 4- It is currently -4 degrees Celsius outside. I think it is fair to say that fall is coming to a close up here in Boston. 5- I am going to a Pedro the Lion concert on Thursday, he plays with Starflyer 59, so it should be kick butt. 6- I have been looking for a Rave scene around Boston, but I have had very little luck. I did find a pretty hoppin' Goth club that I am tempted to dress up and go to. 7- Virgil's Aeneid is much more complex than either of Homer's works. Quality. 8- There are rumors of an 80's cover song open mic in a couple of weeks. A couple of apartment mates and I are planning on doing Stevie Nicks' "Edge of Seventeen." If an encore is demanded, we might have Michael Bolton's ...

"Friends are like plants. You have to water them to keep them alive." I dont know who said that, but it isnt always true. OK, maybe I am only starting to learn about friendship and acquaintance late in life, but I have realized that many times you can water the heck out of something, but the plant just wants to die. Its weird when you used to be good friends with someone but then they (for whatever reason) do not feel the need to keep that friendship plant alive. So your friend allows your relationship to become vegetative (pardon my pun) and there is nothing you can do about it. No matter how many times you tell them that you would like to hang out, or how many times you try to keep that ole lettuce alive, they dont want it to. Who knows why, maybe they have tired of lettuce and want to munch some cabbage. Or maybe they like meat. Or maybe they dont like hanging out with people that use these sorts of metaphors. Its a good thing I have planted friendships in many different f...

They passed it slowly as they went by on the ferry. They were on the deck, looking towards the shore. He was leaning up against the railing when he noticed it, an old factory built in the forties, now wasting away. The boat slowed as it neared the shore, giving him more time to look at the old building, an old hulk of concrete and rust, sitting quietly as time rolled over it. The walls were made of brick, which had been painted red at one point, but the paint had faded and chipped away, remaining only in clumps. Pipes of all sizes protruded from the old factory. Most of them were red and oxidized, but underneath certain parts gleamed shining reminders of the metal it once was. An old brick chimney stack rose from the roof. The end of it was blackened from smoke long gone. As the ferry floated past the old building, she could not help but ask him what he was staring at. "That old factory" he said, smiling sadly to himself as he said it. She turned and looked at it. "What ...

I suppose some people expect me to give a detailed post about the election and about all that jazz. Well, quite frankly I refuse to do so. I just can't be bothered. It is not that I dont care. I just dont care to write about it. I have had enough politics for a while, and I can assure you that I am sick and tired of talking about it. So instead I will talk about something that does interest me: Music. We are at a dark time in history. Each decade has had its good and bad things, but they all had at least one positive thing going for them: The 60's had folk rock, the 70's had punk rock, the 80's had reggae, and the 90's had grudge. Sure, these categories have overlapped over time, but what do they all have in common. What have we always had up until now? Protest music. Historically, we have always had music that has protested the established norm and made society change. I firmly believe that music is one of the most important mediums to get a message out to the worl...

Well, ole Dubya has won yet again. I cant believe it, and yet I totally saw it coming. My pick, Ralph Nader, did not get very far. He was the only candidate that would have actually brought significant change to the country. Democrats and Republicans are both the same dumb thing. Or as charles said it "No matter who wins, the true winner willl be corporate america" (or something like that). Oh well, this just means more war and a possible draft and the demise of any hopes for public health care and social security, and the continued lack of international credibility. All good right? Wrong. Oh well. On a happier note: It is things like this that bring an accute sense of joy to the very core of my being. This is what Wuske went dressed as for Halloween . For those who dont know, it is a furby. So far he wins my vote for best costume, but then again, I didnt see Chris dressed as Jesus. Oh, and here are a couple things worth seeing: A pretty funny comic An awesome piece of artw...

Barley always seems like an old fashioned food. In ancient times it was one of the most commonly consumed grains. Barley bread was the norm for thousands of years. What happened to it though? Suddenly wheat takes the upper hand and barley disappears... or so I thought. I just realized that I eat more barley than I thought. My good old 12 grain bread has some barley in it, and for that I am grateful. The more surprising find is that grape nuts is made up of barley. I was flabbergasted. I had never known I was having a breakfast that could carry the seal of approval of any number of ancient civilizations. I suddenly feel a strong bond between myself and ancient mesopotamia. Grape nuts brings me closer to my fellow man, and for that I will be eternally indebted. Last but certainly not least, there is barley in beer. I do love beer. I really do, for many people it is just a means to an end (getting piss drunk), but for me it is truly a delicacy. Yes, a delicacy made of barley, and that is...