Nonsense, Drivel, and Balderdash

Time and space have been swirling around me all month. May seems to have come and gone almost without warning. And I have come and gone and gone and come back again. First to the coast, then an island where I never saw the sea. My week in England was nothing short of glorious. It was split between London, where I stayed with my college friend Alex Oldfield, and Oxford, where I met up with my old a cappella pals. Being back in England brought back a lot of memories that are still prancing through my brain even today. Not only did it bring back a fair bit of nostalgia, but it also reminded me of all the little idiosyncrasies that britain has. One odd example would include the fact that people there do not know how to use a sidewalk. I swear, I find myself dodging more people in england than any country on earth. But generally I was taken back to places in my memory that reminded me of good times, a very good year spent in Oxford. Oddly enough, the time in Oxford wasn't the avalanche ...

(SEMI-SPOILER ALERT: the following review gives hints about some of the elements found in the film though it doesn't give away the story as such. Either way, even if it did, the plot is so predictable that you wouldn't be missing much) Indiana Jones 4 (IJ4) was a let-down; albeit, an expected one. When directors decide to resurrect an old characters, themes and stories nearly 30 years after their inception... doom comes out, worse than the kind of doom found in the Temple of Doom. And please understand that 50% of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was terrible even back in the 80s (the first half with the whole dinner scene and insect tunnel gets props). IJ4 follows in the footsteps of the original trilogy's black sheep by being too over the top and having awkward pacing, but with the added crap that comes from a terrible plot premise and the lack of a cohesive storyline. The thing that made the original Indiana Jones films great (even the Temple of Doom, though to a les...

It has almost been 2 years since I left Oxford in june of 2006, and almost as long since I was last in the UK later that summer. It's odd, the British Isles are just a hop away from Spain, but I haven't been able to make it back there since I studied there two years ago. This is especially odd considering how much I enjoyed my time there and that I have friends living in various parts of England. But, finally, after a long wait lacking in fine Ale and Tea, I am finally heading back to good ole England. I leave on thursday and will stay in London that night, courtesy of my friend Alex Oldfield, whom I have known since my first day of college. The next day I am meeting another Alex, though this time of Oxford Gargoyles fame, with whom I will indulge in tea before we both catch the train to Oxford. We are going there because this weekend is the Gargoyles 10th anniversary reunion concert. I was a member of the aforementioned a cappella group during my year studying in England. It w...

May is here. I have been waiting for it since this wretched year started a 4 months ago. Just as bad things seem to come all at once, the good ones also seem to come in clumps. And this month is called the month of May, and it is a very good clump. Trips to the beach, england, music festivals, visits from friends... it is all very nice. I started this month off with a trip to the coast. I went there with Kenny and his wife Marta, two of my best friends (side note, saying that I went somewhere with " my friend so and so and their wife" makes me feel old). We drove several hours to a town in the north of Castellón, between Valencia and Barcelona. We spent three blissfully leisurely days there, staying in a friend's house right across the beach. We would wake up late, and eat breakfast on the balcony/porch overlooking the water. Then we would go downstairs, cross the street, and settle our towels on the sand with a good book. Later a bite to eat. Then a stroll. Then dinner....