No time to warm up this game, Tina got back late from the store. She forgot about the game and was wandering aimlessly in the grocery store until I called to remind her about it. I trained the kids to chant 'ooooohhhhhh busted' when she walked in which I found amusing.
Tonight's game is against Jim S. who is a good guy that I played a couple seasons with in the past. They also had Bruce who is a big guy, like 6'8 and really solid. I always have trouble with him down low because he doesn't jump for fakes and is tough to move around. Jim shot ok but a little below his normal I think. They also had a guy I recognize from Rincon but I don't know his name. He is a very solid guard but fortunately didn't score much against us. The rest of their team wasn't much to worry about.
Due to Spring Break, we had 5 guys. I doubt I scored much at all but I held Bruce under 10 which was big. Tommy went off slashing and scoring a big chunk of our points inside. We barely shoot from the outside at all in fact. Brandon was huge down the stretch making 4/4 free throws . I felt ok after the game, finally starting to get some wind back. I don't think I dogged it up the floor too much and we didn't run alot as their guards were always in position to get back.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Game 3
Arrived 30 minutes early and had a nice slow shoot around. I like to walk through for 5-10 minutes and just shoot simple inside stuff, not jumping much just getting loose. I like to work the old 'around the world' progression from each block around the free throw line back down the other block. The first time through I'll do it flat footed and and then jumpers on the way back. From there I'll go into a 3/4 speed series of post moves followed by free throws and then 15-18' jumpers. This works best if I can get someone to rebound for me.
Brandon showed up and wanted to shoot so I rebounded for him through a progression. People don't realize how quickly you can get out of breath just shooting around and he got a little winded which was funny.
The team we played was clearly very talented. Adam is their main guy, 6'2" white guy that is a great shooter and drives well but tends to get upset easily and we managed to get him off his game a bit. I didn't know the black guy on their team, and got a little andro for a minute and picked up a technical for throwing an elbow at one point. Pete hit in the throat w/ an elbow which was funny (he was fine btw) because it is the only time he stopped talking in the 3 years I have known him. Their big guy wasn't very good or active and I was able to move him around at will.
I Scored a bit inside, maybe 6 or 8 plus 3 of 4 FT. Better rebounding, didn't run the floor as much to save some gas. I am not getting many touches on the post and most of our offense is from guard penetration. We still struggle against a zone but our slashing scorers are becoming very difficult to stop. I'll need to focus on rebounding in the future.
Overall, we won a fairly close one and pleased with everyone's performance.
Brandon showed up and wanted to shoot so I rebounded for him through a progression. People don't realize how quickly you can get out of breath just shooting around and he got a little winded which was funny.
The team we played was clearly very talented. Adam is their main guy, 6'2" white guy that is a great shooter and drives well but tends to get upset easily and we managed to get him off his game a bit. I didn't know the black guy on their team, and got a little andro for a minute and picked up a technical for throwing an elbow at one point. Pete hit in the throat w/ an elbow which was funny (he was fine btw) because it is the only time he stopped talking in the 3 years I have known him. Their big guy wasn't very good or active and I was able to move him around at will.
I Scored a bit inside, maybe 6 or 8 plus 3 of 4 FT. Better rebounding, didn't run the floor as much to save some gas. I am not getting many touches on the post and most of our offense is from guard penetration. We still struggle against a zone but our slashing scorers are becoming very difficult to stop. I'll need to focus on rebounding in the future.
Overall, we won a fairly close one and pleased with everyone's performance.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Game 2
This was actually my first game having missed last week on the Disneyland trip. Our team won the first one by 15.
JB and I had to fly from his practice ending at 6 to make the 6:30 game and have a little time for me to warm up. As previously mentioned, I have not run at all since December at the Half Marathon and haven't played ball since July in Sweden. My performance reflected the neglect. I couldn't get up and down the court (which was short but wide) without my lungs bursting and I had to sit out twice to rest which sucked.
I don't know the guys on the team that well but we had a total of 6. The captain is a guy named Jose who looks just like Carlos Mortenson the poker player. Carlos is short, pretty agile, good w/ the ball and has a nice 2 step runner in the lane that is always right on the edge of being called as a travel. Tommy is a little taller and thinner but moves well and has a good nose for the ball, cutting and getting open often. Haven't seen him shoot more than layups so far though. Brandon doesn't really seem like a ballplayer but hustles alot. He makes unorthodox shot selections but really crashes the boards. Matt definitely appears to be a ball player, nice outside shot and good technique around the basket. Richard is an older guy, he didn't shoot much but seemed ok overall.
They had 1 legitimate shooter (Bash) that we did a good job closing out on but the other knuckleheads could not miss. The 800 lb. Gorilla (and no that's not a racial thing you bastard, its a colloquialism referring to the person w/ the power in a situation to do just about whatever they want) is a guy named Ime who evidently played ball for Yale and is essentially unstoppable in this league. He is a really nice guy which tempers my hate (based 100% on jealousy) for him to a seething disgust. He is extremely strong and a great leaper but in seasons past had a weakness shooting from the outside that seems to have disappeared at least for this game. The had a strangely buff Asian guy (A-Train on his shirt) who despite AWFUL form made every long range and off balance turnaround jumper he took. The rest of their team were standard players but to a man, hit nearly every long range shot they took.
We started the game in a zone which proved to be a bad choice as they could not miss from behind the arc. We stayed close in the opening minutes and Ime didn't take over the game right away. Of our first 10 possessions, we probably got whistled for 5 various (and dubious) violations that limited our opportunities significantly. The ref's partner didn't show and he didn't do a good job managing the game. I nearly got a T pointing out a guy that had been in the key for an hour. Our half court offense was ok and we got some decent shots against their 2-3 zone but I didn't have the legs to get many offensive boards so we had a bunch of 1 and done possessions. Our best success was running the floor. Tommy, Matt and I all scored on nice passes from Jose in the open court some of which were after made baskets when they were dogging it back. We'll have to find a way to keep an uptempo game going which means I need to get some wind back quick. They didn't do anything special on O or D but as mentioned shot the f-ing lights out. I think we went into half down 5 or 6. The low point of the half was Ime driving the lane, me stepping over to block the lane and take charge, him elevating to the point that the heel of his shoe hit me in the upper chest as he dunked. I clearly was in position to take the charge but got no call. I am a donkey for not just going up and fouling the bejeezus out of him and wont' make the mistake again.
During the halftime shoot around, Matt grabbed the rim which turns out is a technical though the ref didn't warn us or mention it until we came out of the break and had to start the 2nd half w/ them shooting 2 T free throws. We cut the lead to 4 twice in the second half but could not contain Ime who decided to score more and their shooting accuracy didn't diminish. We switched to man with about 12 minutes to go and Jose did a great job defending Ime on the ball and denying him passes. I think we should stick w/ man D only for the rest of the year.
With about 2 minutes to go they extended the lead to 6 and we had to start fouling. They made most of the free throws and though we did score on several of the last possessions, its wasn't enough.
We are undersized but I think should be fairly successful this year especially if I can get more in synch with Matt and Jose.
JB and I had to fly from his practice ending at 6 to make the 6:30 game and have a little time for me to warm up. As previously mentioned, I have not run at all since December at the Half Marathon and haven't played ball since July in Sweden. My performance reflected the neglect. I couldn't get up and down the court (which was short but wide) without my lungs bursting and I had to sit out twice to rest which sucked.
I don't know the guys on the team that well but we had a total of 6. The captain is a guy named Jose who looks just like Carlos Mortenson the poker player. Carlos is short, pretty agile, good w/ the ball and has a nice 2 step runner in the lane that is always right on the edge of being called as a travel. Tommy is a little taller and thinner but moves well and has a good nose for the ball, cutting and getting open often. Haven't seen him shoot more than layups so far though. Brandon doesn't really seem like a ballplayer but hustles alot. He makes unorthodox shot selections but really crashes the boards. Matt definitely appears to be a ball player, nice outside shot and good technique around the basket. Richard is an older guy, he didn't shoot much but seemed ok overall.
They had 1 legitimate shooter (Bash) that we did a good job closing out on but the other knuckleheads could not miss. The 800 lb. Gorilla (and no that's not a racial thing you bastard, its a colloquialism referring to the person w/ the power in a situation to do just about whatever they want) is a guy named Ime who evidently played ball for Yale and is essentially unstoppable in this league. He is a really nice guy which tempers my hate (based 100% on jealousy) for him to a seething disgust. He is extremely strong and a great leaper but in seasons past had a weakness shooting from the outside that seems to have disappeared at least for this game. The had a strangely buff Asian guy (A-Train on his shirt) who despite AWFUL form made every long range and off balance turnaround jumper he took. The rest of their team were standard players but to a man, hit nearly every long range shot they took.
We started the game in a zone which proved to be a bad choice as they could not miss from behind the arc. We stayed close in the opening minutes and Ime didn't take over the game right away. Of our first 10 possessions, we probably got whistled for 5 various (and dubious) violations that limited our opportunities significantly. The ref's partner didn't show and he didn't do a good job managing the game. I nearly got a T pointing out a guy that had been in the key for an hour. Our half court offense was ok and we got some decent shots against their 2-3 zone but I didn't have the legs to get many offensive boards so we had a bunch of 1 and done possessions. Our best success was running the floor. Tommy, Matt and I all scored on nice passes from Jose in the open court some of which were after made baskets when they were dogging it back. We'll have to find a way to keep an uptempo game going which means I need to get some wind back quick. They didn't do anything special on O or D but as mentioned shot the f-ing lights out. I think we went into half down 5 or 6. The low point of the half was Ime driving the lane, me stepping over to block the lane and take charge, him elevating to the point that the heel of his shoe hit me in the upper chest as he dunked. I clearly was in position to take the charge but got no call. I am a donkey for not just going up and fouling the bejeezus out of him and wont' make the mistake again.
During the halftime shoot around, Matt grabbed the rim which turns out is a technical though the ref didn't warn us or mention it until we came out of the break and had to start the 2nd half w/ them shooting 2 T free throws. We cut the lead to 4 twice in the second half but could not contain Ime who decided to score more and their shooting accuracy didn't diminish. We switched to man with about 12 minutes to go and Jose did a great job defending Ime on the ball and denying him passes. I think we should stick w/ man D only for the rest of the year.
With about 2 minutes to go they extended the lead to 6 and we had to start fouling. They made most of the free throws and though we did score on several of the last possessions, its wasn't enough.
We are undersized but I think should be fairly successful this year especially if I can get more in synch with Matt and Jose.
Monday, February 27, 2006
Beginning Basketball
Basketball is the best sport in the world to play. Adherents for any particular sport will naturally argue for theirs in particular but its no contest that basketball is the best sport in the world to play. I have decided to start writing again to chronicle my return for the game. That sound grandiose of course but as I went shoe shopping today I realized again how much I love basketball. I haven't shot a ball in 6 months and haven't run 10 feet since December. I am about at the lowest point physically I could be so I think it will be a kick to think and write about it as I go through the season.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Thoughts from Schaumburg
I have the loudest can of Coke ever, it is sitting here on the desk making such a racket bubbling that I can barely hear the intricate plot twists and turns of the Wedding Crashers. I'll need to rent it again later to catch up, seriously, you miss a minute and you'll never figure it out. Its like Memento without tatoos.
I will admit though that I do find Vaugh, Wilso and Ferrel all pretty funny but this was a turd.
I will admit though that I do find Vaugh, Wilso and Ferrel all pretty funny but this was a turd.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Indian Tech Email Flamewar - Funny Link
link
favorites so far:
"What it means
Sentient has the money and muscle power to FUCK you in your back side so hard that your generations to come will be born defunct just the way you are mentally sick & defunct."
"I am WARNING you if you send another email to any Sentient personnel I
will do needful."
favorites so far:
"What it means
Sentient has the money and muscle power to FUCK you in your back side so hard that your generations to come will be born defunct just the way you are mentally sick & defunct."
"I am WARNING you if you send another email to any Sentient personnel I
will do needful."
Born Again
I didn't know whether or not to keep this thing going. I swore it would not become a what I had for breakfast kind of deal. I met some people over the last few days that amused me and I think I'll keep it going. Be warned it probably going to be inaner than before and I recommend you don't read it.
Friday, September 09, 2005
The Allegory of the Elevator
The Allegory of the Elevator
I have thought a lot about this and this is my best shot at describing the national character of the 4 countries I work in.
I am walking through the lobby toward the elevator. There is one man in the elevator who clearly sees me approaching. In each case they will let the doors close making no attempt to hold the door.
The Finnish guy hides and pretends not to see me.
The Swede stares right at me, emotionless.
The Norwegian smiles, seems hopeful but makes no effort.
The Dane smiles, flips me off and then waves as the doors close.
I have thought a lot about this and this is my best shot at describing the national character of the 4 countries I work in.
I am walking through the lobby toward the elevator. There is one man in the elevator who clearly sees me approaching. In each case they will let the doors close making no attempt to hold the door.
The Finnish guy hides and pretends not to see me.
The Swede stares right at me, emotionless.
The Norwegian smiles, seems hopeful but makes no effort.
The Dane smiles, flips me off and then waves as the doors close.
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Entourage
I think I spoke before about the beauty of downloading American shows while abroad. It has been a great way to stay in touch with some of that cultural stuff that lags 6 months or more over here. When I went back to the US in July, I cut off the download (no need when we have Tivo) but upon my return I have had to fire it back up to stave off serious boredom.
In particular, my final weekend stuck out here in Enkoeping (pronounced EN-sherp-ing) would have been unbearable with out Entourage. I can't like this show enough. On the surface its a bit fluffy (on casual glance its just 4 guys chasing girls) but subtly its incredibly well written. I have always been a Jeremy Piven fan and he is really at his best in this. I am little worried that the last episode I saw (which I think is the penultimate for Season 2 but not sure) was a bit 'Jerry McGuire' but I'll reserve judgment for a bit.
The thing I like best is the portrayal of friendship between the 4 guys. They are constantly talking shit to/about each other but in the end are honest with each other in a way that I don't think has been captured on tv many other times. Something rings really true about it. Guys that are good friends really do have short memories and are ridiculously forgiving (outside of certain situations involving women and money).
If we take this as the ideal for showing how guys really are with each their good friends, it makes me wonder if there is a show that gives a peek into how girls really are with each other?
I am slightly ashamed to admit that I have seen 2 entire seasons of Sex and the City. I claim partial immunity from ridicule based on my month of solitary confinement (Tina left them behind!!) but partially I was interested from an anthropological perspective. Is this really how girls are with their close friends? If so, I think they have us beat in the arena of talking shit about the opposite sex. On the topic of sex, they appear to be much free-er with graphic description but I'll assume that is punched up to make the show more edgy.
In particular, my final weekend stuck out here in Enkoeping (pronounced EN-sherp-ing) would have been unbearable with out Entourage. I can't like this show enough. On the surface its a bit fluffy (on casual glance its just 4 guys chasing girls) but subtly its incredibly well written. I have always been a Jeremy Piven fan and he is really at his best in this. I am little worried that the last episode I saw (which I think is the penultimate for Season 2 but not sure) was a bit 'Jerry McGuire' but I'll reserve judgment for a bit.
The thing I like best is the portrayal of friendship between the 4 guys. They are constantly talking shit to/about each other but in the end are honest with each other in a way that I don't think has been captured on tv many other times. Something rings really true about it. Guys that are good friends really do have short memories and are ridiculously forgiving (outside of certain situations involving women and money).
If we take this as the ideal for showing how guys really are with each their good friends, it makes me wonder if there is a show that gives a peek into how girls really are with each other?
I am slightly ashamed to admit that I have seen 2 entire seasons of Sex and the City. I claim partial immunity from ridicule based on my month of solitary confinement (Tina left them behind!!) but partially I was interested from an anthropological perspective. Is this really how girls are with their close friends? If so, I think they have us beat in the arena of talking shit about the opposite sex. On the topic of sex, they appear to be much free-er with graphic description but I'll assume that is punched up to make the show more edgy.
Exodus part 1
One day our buddy Ulysses (I prefer the Roman name just because of Tennyson) decided it was time to head home from his foreign adventure. Typical expat story I think, he had been gone too long and missed the wife and kids. On his way home he pissed off Posiedeon, the guy with the cows and a few other deity types and so everyone decided to screw with him and make his return trip long and painful.
Obviously its hubris (just keeping the theme going) for me to compare my petty hardships with some poor bastard who had to go to Hades (or whatever the Underwold was called then) and back but suspend disbelief for a minute and allow me to whine.
The plan was to leave Sweden on the 1st of September. This would be the 4 week mark away from home and the point at which I would be absolutely climbing the walls. I have learned something about myself on this trip and that is that I am useless on my own. I realized halfway through my sentence that I have never lived on my own. I went straight from my parents to living with a kaleidoscope of roommates through college to being married. I have no skills for surviving on my own in the sense that neither am I inspired to feed myself as a rational adult might nor am I able to stave off mind-crushing boredom. My diet has consisted solely of Indian take-out, frozen pizzas, sushi and lamb sandwiches. I think I have scurvy.
The bosses had agreed to the 1 September plan back in July when all were on vacation and no one was really paying attention. 2 weeks out from this date, I sent a reminder and there was rending of garmets, wailing and gnashing of teeth. Obviously I attribute this to my stature and prowess but in fact I think the plan was approved by an automatic approval button the bosses had setup through the Swedish summer so they didn't have to read mail. My #2 was being promoted to #1 and the handover had been ongoing since the spring but nonetheless, there was panic. Several meetings later, after they first proposed to keep me until year end (I think I blacked out at that point and when I came to was still shouting profanity like a Tourette's patient) we agreed on the 10th of September as the consensus date for my departure.
This kicks over several dominoes in a hurry. I have to get the work bureaucracy (lamely referred to as 'blue tape'...get it?...we are big blue....and its red tape...but its blue...get it?....if I ever use this in conversation kill me on the spot) going which is no small thing but its at least in English. I also have to get out of the apartment by the end of the month which means I have 10 days to arrange for 10 hotel nights, get the place cleaned out and handed back to the landlady.
Some kind of doctor's world congress is going on in Stockholm from the 1st to the 10th and every hotel room is booked. I know people say that sometimes all the hotels are full but I literally mean it. I will be staying most of those days at a hotel 120km outside of town. I don't know how far that is but it sound like a long way. I'll be taking an hour commuter train ride in to work every morning so that should be fun at least (the sarcasm is probably not showing there, trains are boring unless you are the Station Agent which you have not seen but should read about on IMDB). While setting this up (ok I don't do the setup, I have the admin do it but I do vicariously feel the frustration when she is frustrated) we found 3 nights where nowhere in a 200km (that sounds really really far) is there a hotel room to be had. I will be sleeping in a cupboard under the stairs of a colleague. With this many doctors descending on Stockholm, I recommend you not get sick or break anything for a while.
The hotel I wound up in is a pit stop for a cruise ship for Minnesotan's getting hooked back up to their Scandic roots. All are old, some appear to be dying rapidly (stroke of luck for them to be near Stockholm right now) and many are the 'ugly american' we read about. I do my best to not be that guy and I am sure it has not always worked but hanging with these clods is driving me to drink. Best so far was the couple in the elevator who by the way did not appear to be drunk yet, speaking openly about me in English while I am standing about 6 inches away. Part old people loss of volume control but partly assuming that English is some kind of code.
"Jeez. See now he doesn't look Swedish"
"Who? This guy?"
"Yeah, he is too stocky. Have you noticed they have alot of tall people here but they are all kinda skinny.
"I think he is probably Jewish"
(editors note: its the nose I know, I of course have no problem with this common mistake except that I missed out on the money and gifts when I turned 12) For some reason that was the final word for them. I was strangely not even a little tempted to turn around and do the "BAM...I know english too and heard you talking about me, What a small world, where you from...etc"
There are no restaraunts to speak of in this village so we are stuck w/ the hotel dining room. I will definetly eat in Stockholm tomorrow to avoid the hotel grub. Scandinavian food is so lame its hard to describe. The buffet had a tiny salad bar (at least it was some nice greens and no iceberg) and chaffing dishes w/ boiled potatoes (if I never see another small, peeled boiled flavorless potato I just might die happy), some beef chunks in ketchup that may have been some forgery of bbq sauce, chicken wings with no apparent spice or even attempt to flavor, plain white fish, chicken burgers with no ketchup or mustard offered and some egg noodle pasta w/ hamburger meat and ketchup side. Could not have sucked worse.
The saga of closing out the apartment has been an ordeal too. First I call the cleaning company recommended by the property management people and find out its going to be a bit over $600 (thats US currency and not a typo) to clean what must be about a 900 sq. ft. apt. I give them the key and tell them I am back at 6 so leave it under the mat. The poor Guatemalan guy didn't get the memo or something and ends up going home with my key. 2 hours later and after me screaming like a mad fool they finally send a guy they must have considered expendable to deliver me the key and let me back in.
To really cap it, the inspector lady doesn't like the job that they did and wants me to pay them to come back. She asked me this in an email and I think I summoned all my skills and powers and was able to write back the most professional but compelling version of a 'go perform an anatomically impossible act on yourself' email I have ever written. It closed the issue down and I have framed the email for the wall in my office.
I have 6 more nights to fight through. Really the only thing I can hope for at this point is to meet up with Circe pretty soon (I know I dropped the theme along time ago but wanted to close it out).
Obviously its hubris (just keeping the theme going) for me to compare my petty hardships with some poor bastard who had to go to Hades (or whatever the Underwold was called then) and back but suspend disbelief for a minute and allow me to whine.
The plan was to leave Sweden on the 1st of September. This would be the 4 week mark away from home and the point at which I would be absolutely climbing the walls. I have learned something about myself on this trip and that is that I am useless on my own. I realized halfway through my sentence that I have never lived on my own. I went straight from my parents to living with a kaleidoscope of roommates through college to being married. I have no skills for surviving on my own in the sense that neither am I inspired to feed myself as a rational adult might nor am I able to stave off mind-crushing boredom. My diet has consisted solely of Indian take-out, frozen pizzas, sushi and lamb sandwiches. I think I have scurvy.
The bosses had agreed to the 1 September plan back in July when all were on vacation and no one was really paying attention. 2 weeks out from this date, I sent a reminder and there was rending of garmets, wailing and gnashing of teeth. Obviously I attribute this to my stature and prowess but in fact I think the plan was approved by an automatic approval button the bosses had setup through the Swedish summer so they didn't have to read mail. My #2 was being promoted to #1 and the handover had been ongoing since the spring but nonetheless, there was panic. Several meetings later, after they first proposed to keep me until year end (I think I blacked out at that point and when I came to was still shouting profanity like a Tourette's patient) we agreed on the 10th of September as the consensus date for my departure.
This kicks over several dominoes in a hurry. I have to get the work bureaucracy (lamely referred to as 'blue tape'...get it?...we are big blue....and its red tape...but its blue...get it?....if I ever use this in conversation kill me on the spot) going which is no small thing but its at least in English. I also have to get out of the apartment by the end of the month which means I have 10 days to arrange for 10 hotel nights, get the place cleaned out and handed back to the landlady.
Some kind of doctor's world congress is going on in Stockholm from the 1st to the 10th and every hotel room is booked. I know people say that sometimes all the hotels are full but I literally mean it. I will be staying most of those days at a hotel 120km outside of town. I don't know how far that is but it sound like a long way. I'll be taking an hour commuter train ride in to work every morning so that should be fun at least (the sarcasm is probably not showing there, trains are boring unless you are the Station Agent which you have not seen but should read about on IMDB). While setting this up (ok I don't do the setup, I have the admin do it but I do vicariously feel the frustration when she is frustrated) we found 3 nights where nowhere in a 200km (that sounds really really far) is there a hotel room to be had. I will be sleeping in a cupboard under the stairs of a colleague. With this many doctors descending on Stockholm, I recommend you not get sick or break anything for a while.
The hotel I wound up in is a pit stop for a cruise ship for Minnesotan's getting hooked back up to their Scandic roots. All are old, some appear to be dying rapidly (stroke of luck for them to be near Stockholm right now) and many are the 'ugly american' we read about. I do my best to not be that guy and I am sure it has not always worked but hanging with these clods is driving me to drink. Best so far was the couple in the elevator who by the way did not appear to be drunk yet, speaking openly about me in English while I am standing about 6 inches away. Part old people loss of volume control but partly assuming that English is some kind of code.
"Jeez. See now he doesn't look Swedish"
"Who? This guy?"
"Yeah, he is too stocky. Have you noticed they have alot of tall people here but they are all kinda skinny.
"I think he is probably Jewish"
(editors note: its the nose I know, I of course have no problem with this common mistake except that I missed out on the money and gifts when I turned 12) For some reason that was the final word for them. I was strangely not even a little tempted to turn around and do the "BAM...I know english too and heard you talking about me, What a small world, where you from...etc"
There are no restaraunts to speak of in this village so we are stuck w/ the hotel dining room. I will definetly eat in Stockholm tomorrow to avoid the hotel grub. Scandinavian food is so lame its hard to describe. The buffet had a tiny salad bar (at least it was some nice greens and no iceberg) and chaffing dishes w/ boiled potatoes (if I never see another small, peeled boiled flavorless potato I just might die happy), some beef chunks in ketchup that may have been some forgery of bbq sauce, chicken wings with no apparent spice or even attempt to flavor, plain white fish, chicken burgers with no ketchup or mustard offered and some egg noodle pasta w/ hamburger meat and ketchup side. Could not have sucked worse.
The saga of closing out the apartment has been an ordeal too. First I call the cleaning company recommended by the property management people and find out its going to be a bit over $600 (thats US currency and not a typo) to clean what must be about a 900 sq. ft. apt. I give them the key and tell them I am back at 6 so leave it under the mat. The poor Guatemalan guy didn't get the memo or something and ends up going home with my key. 2 hours later and after me screaming like a mad fool they finally send a guy they must have considered expendable to deliver me the key and let me back in.
To really cap it, the inspector lady doesn't like the job that they did and wants me to pay them to come back. She asked me this in an email and I think I summoned all my skills and powers and was able to write back the most professional but compelling version of a 'go perform an anatomically impossible act on yourself' email I have ever written. It closed the issue down and I have framed the email for the wall in my office.
I have 6 more nights to fight through. Really the only thing I can hope for at this point is to meet up with Circe pretty soon (I know I dropped the theme along time ago but wanted to close it out).
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Mexican Food
There is a Mexican place near my apartment which I am leaving tomorrow. Its been there a while but I couldn't bring myself to try it. The only other quick food nearby is Sushi Ting Ting but I have had sushi for lunch about 3 days in a row and needed a break.
Short story is that the chicken fajita burrito has....chicken, iceberg lettuce, 2 red peppers, bbq sauce, some form a mayo and a pickle.
I couldn't miss Tucson more right now.
Short story is that the chicken fajita burrito has....chicken, iceberg lettuce, 2 red peppers, bbq sauce, some form a mayo and a pickle.
I couldn't miss Tucson more right now.
Friday, August 26, 2005
This is The End?
I just got the final, final word. I am leaving Saturday 10 September. I should be home around 9 PM Tucson time. These next 2 weeks will be agony.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Monday, August 15, 2005
Video Games Can Kill
Sunday, August 14, 2005
This American Life
So I spend alot of time here in Sweden playing poker. The only way not to go insane from boredom (as the cable is very spotty w/ regard to decent programming) while playing is to have some background sound on. I have always liked the radio show from NPR called "This American Life" (link)and am now working my way through all the old archives. If you have never heard the show, its very NPR and certainly not for everyone.
Here are a couple of my favorites but there are a million good things in there.
Fiasco - The section about the play at the beginning is awesome.
Christmas - Playing the Sedaris story from this episode is part of my strict Christmas routine. I think its in one of his books also.
Babysitting - Top to bottom a good episode
Lessons - Act 4 specifically the record from Helen Gurley Brown is sort of amazing.
Music Lessons - Act 2 is my favorite. I think it captures that weird sub-culture of high school bandism.
The House by Loon Lake - I think I first heard this one real late at night and got totally wrapped up.
Here are a couple of my favorites but there are a million good things in there.
Fiasco - The section about the play at the beginning is awesome.
Christmas - Playing the Sedaris story from this episode is part of my strict Christmas routine. I think its in one of his books also.
Babysitting - Top to bottom a good episode
Lessons - Act 4 specifically the record from Helen Gurley Brown is sort of amazing.
Music Lessons - Act 2 is my favorite. I think it captures that weird sub-culture of high school bandism.
The House by Loon Lake - I think I first heard this one real late at night and got totally wrapped up.
Friday, August 12, 2005
Thursday, August 11, 2005
More Book Reviews
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - This is the best book of 2005 by a huge margin. I forgot how sort of raw everyone felt for the time after September 11th (have you watched the Letterman thing? you should. you shouldn't forget this stuff). This book did an amazing job of bringing that all back but somehow, and this seems crazy, but sweetly. Being away from the kids right now, the protagonist reminds me so much of my son that I literally had to put the book down several times. Kinda like his first book, I think it lags in a couple places but its forgiven.
No Country for Old Men - Cormac let me down a bit on this one. I wound up reading it nearly straight through on my trip back to Europe. I guess I want him to just keep writing the Border Trilogy (actually just the first 2 but still) over and over again. I don't have any specific criticsim just that its a crime novel (pretty dark) that ends --->Spoiler --> not well for the hero(?).
The House of Spirits - I was less bored by this than I expected but unfortunately further ingraining my bias against female authors. The Magic Realism thing is fine, but after 218 pages when I gave up I guess I just needed something more concrete.
No Country for Old Men - Cormac let me down a bit on this one. I wound up reading it nearly straight through on my trip back to Europe. I guess I want him to just keep writing the Border Trilogy (actually just the first 2 but still) over and over again. I don't have any specific criticsim just that its a crime novel (pretty dark) that ends --->Spoiler --> not well for the hero(?).
The House of Spirits - I was less bored by this than I expected but unfortunately further ingraining my bias against female authors. The Magic Realism thing is fine, but after 218 pages when I gave up I guess I just needed something more concrete.
Monday, August 01, 2005
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