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| I got it. |
| 04.27.04 (2:40 am) [edit] |
Yup, I succumbed to the Brian virus. I believe there are expandable organisms in my lungs making it hard to breathe AND some sort of alien in my sinuses. You know I am sick when I stayed home from work yesterday and DID NOT go out on the deck in the beautiful sunshine. On the couch the WHOLE day!
After yet another challenging grocery experience, we relaxed on Saturday adn Sunday. Sunday was perfect in teh high 70's with no clouds and we sunned most of the day on teh deck. I'll have you know that I attempted teh European style of sunbathing. It was good except that my two friends became slightly red. Still are. Not the best feeling in the world.
I'll try to recover this week. My friends are recovering nicely as well.
Later.
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| Pat Boone's a Jackass! |
| 04.21.04 (11:18 pm) [edit] |
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Okay - I couldn't let this one go without posting.
According to an article today in the Washington Times http://washingtontimes.com/na... - "Censorship in arts 'healthy,' Boone says"
"I don't think censorship is a bad word, but it has become a bad word because everybody associates it with some kind of restriction on liberty," said Mr. Boone.
I have come to expect crap like that from the mouth of our President, but COME ON Pat. You're an (alleged) artist. Don't spout censorship nonsense like that just because you need the press!
I took the liberty of finding Pat's website where he currently hawks the stylish recordings of Merv Griffin, ShaNaNa and The Lettermen, among others. This is the link to his website - http://www.patsgold.com/index...
Through the website there is a "Contact" page. I think you should ALL write him and let him know what you think about censorship and his need to try and impose his morals on society.
I need to say it one more time. Pat Boone's a JACKASS!
That is all.
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| Skulls, Skulls everywhere |
| 04.21.04 (10:41 pm) [edit] |
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I think this cold/flu I have may get the best of me and it may be time for me to reserve a spot on this pile of skulls for my own. That way you all have a place to come and visit my remains.....
This is actually a picture of the Ossuary we discovered around the corner from our apartment. I know the skulls look fake, but I assure you they are real. The only information I can find online says that it is primarily an "overflow" area for local cemetaries which are emptied on occasion to make room for the new arrivals..... There is a large space behind this "wall" of skulls which is filled with more skulls, bones and religious artifacts. There is rumored to be over 20K skulls in this room..... The room is heavily locked and you can't get in.
Damn... I actually feel better today than I have all week thanks to Karen playing nurse to me, though.
Anyhow, not much of an update here - not much has happened this week except for work and I'm sure you don't want to hear about that. We cancelled our trip to Florence this week - we figured that 2 1/2 days wouldn't be enough time to see everything we want to see and we also discovered that we can go for 1/3 of the price if we hold off until this summer. This weekend we are just going to stay local and maybe do an overnight to Lausanne or Bern.....
We did however book our plans for our 5 day Amsterdam/Rotterdam/The Hague tour next month. We have yet ANOTHER 4 day weekend off from work which we are going to stretch to 5 so we have plenty of time to trek through the canals of the Netherlands.....
"And I said what about Breakfast at Tiffany's, she said I think I remember the movie, as I recall I think we both kinda liked it, and I said well that's one thing we've got....." Sorry. That song was just playing on the radio and it reminded me of this old seacoast band I used to hang out with!
The weather here is really nice right now (mid-70's and sunny) after a week of crap weather. We may go out after work today and get a few lounge chairs for the deck in preparation for a lazy weekend in the sun....
Anyhow, I spoke to Troy and congratulated him on his screenplay contest - I'm going to have so many famous friends by the time you are all done with your various creative projects! Don't forget me when you are all rich and rubbing elbows with famous directors and music promoters!
Somebody send me an email and let me know how the practice for the May/June shows are going - I'd love to hear how things are working out with Scanlon on Bass.
Tonight is "hippie jam band night" across the street from us. For weeks I thought we were just making noise, but last week the owner asked us to move upstairs from the basement into the restaurant to play in exchange for beers. I guess that counts as a paying gig, doesn't it?? I am now the official bongo player. Look out Phish!
Well, I gots to go work for da' man. Be well!
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| I Hate Mondays |
| 04.19.04 (3:55 am) [edit] |
Well, Brian and my mom seem to have caught this death cold. Hmmmmm, that's kind of coincidental, don't you think? Oh man, I am awful, but I thought I would say it because I know all of you are thinking it anyway!! And guess what, as usual, Brian is a whiny crybaby. He really does sound awful though. I am taking good care of him.
So, it's Monday and rainy outside. The clouds are hanging so low that you would never know there are mountains on either side of us. All you can see is gray.... Kind of a downer. Of course, it is snowing on the moutains.
The weekend was good. We went to the Thermal Baths on Saturday and had a nice chinois fondue dinner Saturday evening and then Brian and I met up with a bunch of people from work to go dancing. Pretty good dance club (there is only one in the whole Valais...). We got REALLY drunk though and tried to bike home. I thought I was going to kill myself for sure. I could not bike in a straight line. Somehow we made it home though!
Sunday was a hangover reading day for me and Brian had a sick day in bed. His hangover was gone by noon.
Now we are back working for da man!
Mom and Nick are attempting laundry this morning. The first time our actual time slot will be used. We will see how they make out.
We are probably going to Florence Italy this weekend. My mom and Nick are heading to Rome tomorrow and then to Florence on Friday. I miss everyone!!!
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| The awards keep piling up |
| 04.14.04 (11:54 pm) [edit] |
I've just been notified that our humble little slice of electronic heaven has been awarded the "Albert Einstein Says Stop Screwing Around And Get Back To Work!" award.
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This is where I would type my acceptance speech, but I have to get back to work.......
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| A few more pictures |
| 04.14.04 (11:23 pm) [edit] |
Here is Karen Sporting her "Trophy"! The guy in the floppy hat is Jason our Australian tour guide and owner of "The Crawl". Directly behind Karen is Jason's partner in crime - "English John"......
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This is a group of new friends from the tour - sadly I can't remember their names. I blame Jason and the beer for this! We promised to post this picture for them, so here it is!
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Here is Karen, her folks and me. And beer.
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| We're back! |
| 04.13.04 (5:27 am) [edit] |
What a weekend! Munich kicks ass! You will notice that most of this Blog revolves around Beer. That is because all of Munich revolves around Beer and Beer culture....
What a great city - museums, palaces, tons of history everywhere you look and the beer gardens. OH the beer gardens! This is a city that takes it's beer and weisswurst (white sausage) VERY seriously.
We arrived early Thursday afternoon and had some sausage, sauerkraut and beer for dinner. Thursday was a fairly early night - after 8 hours of trains we were all pretty wiped out.
Friday we toured around the city center, saw the palace (Residenz), went to the art museum and hefted a few beers as big as your head! The beauty of Bavarian beer is that they actually have "purity laws" which allow them to only use 5 ingredients in their beer (hops, barley, malt, yeast and water). No crap in your beer = little to no hangover. In fact, I think the sauerkraut put a hurting on me FAR worse than the beer!
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Saturday Karen took her parents and me on a forced death march up a mountain in a snowstorm to see King Ludwigs's Castle.... King Ludwig nearly bankrupted Bavaria back in the day building these elaborate castles until he was found dead one day under VERY mysterious circumstances. It WAS a very impressive Castle once we got there but that still didn't stop us from busting Karen's ass for the journey we had to undertake to see it!
Saturday night Karen and I went on a guided tour http://thecrawl.beertour.de/w... of the beer halls and gardens with a group of about 40 people. First we had a lesson on the proper way to hold a liter (It's NOT a teacup you f*ck!) then a bit of history talk from our Australian tour guide. A liter at each of 3 different beer halls and THEN we stayed out with our new friends til around 4am at some crazy Irish bar.
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Karen won the highly coveted and well earned "Best Drinker" award - a beer "coozie". In the words of our tour guide at the beginning of the night "You are out of the contest if you fall down, throw up, spill a beer, pass out or just generally make a "f*ck" of yourself"! The tour's logo promotes it as "The best night you'll never remember". They were right!
We got off to a bit of a slow start on Easter Sunday (due to the "crawl" the night before) but eventually made it to the Deutches Museum which is a HUGE science and technology museum. It was like the Boston Museum of Science but much bigger and much better. Actually it was like what the Boston Museum wants to be like when it grows up. You could spend 2 days in this building and STILL not see everything.
Easter dinner consisted of slow-roasted "pig knuckles" and - you guessed it - beer. The swine was unbelievably good and we were all uncomfortably full when we finished stuffing our faces. Then we went out for - more beer.....
Beer is not considered "alcohol" in Germany. It is considered a "beverage" and is taxed and regulated in the same manner as a can of Pepsi. The drinking age is 16 (14 if the kids are with their parents) BUT they also have some VERY strict drunk driving laws and such good public transportation that most people would never even consider trying it anyhow. The US could take a lesson.... But I digress.
We ended our Munich weekend with a few hours in the world famous Hofbrauhaus. THE beerhall that the rest of the world views as a "typical" German beerhall. It's not. But it IS a buttload of touristy fun and revelry! Picture 500+ drunk tourists drinking liters and singing "Sweet Home Alabama" to the music being played by an Oom-pah band and you have an idea of the type of scene we had plunged ourselves into!
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It was a blast and we met some great folks at our table including a young guy who had just returned from 330 days in Iraq. He was with the Airborne division that parachuted in to secure the airfields on day 4 of the war. We bought him a beer - whether you agree with the war or not you HAVE to agree that this kid earned his beer! He swapped war stories with Karen's dad who was in Germany in '52-'54. What a time warp!
That about hits all the highlights of our trip - more stories to come as we remember them and we'll have pictures out to you all soon....
Be good!
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| Here's a list |
| 04.06.04 (11:06 pm) [edit] |
Wow, it's been 70 days since I left the US. Here's a list of 10 things we've done here that we never would have done in the States (in no particular order):
1. Went sledding at 9000 feet.
2. Stood in front of the Cathedral in Milan.
3. Watched 16 year olds drink in a bar - legally.
4. Toured 4 castles (so far).
5. Went to a gay bar with Tim.
6. Drank coffee on the porch at the foot of the Alps.
7. Almost passed out from altitude at 12,500 feet.
8. Climbed down inside a glacier.
9. Ate horse.
10. Drank in the streets at Carnival.
Random, I know, but it was all running through my head on the train coming to work this morning......
"She smelled exactly like beef vegetable soup" - I watched "Axe Murderer" last night again. Does that movie EVER stop being funny??
There won't be any posts after today (until next Tuesday). Karen and I are leaving for Munich in the morning to spend 4 days. We have Friday and Monday off for the Easter holiday. God I LOVE the holidays here!
Ciao'!
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| Hey Wilbur..... |
| 04.05.04 (11:18 pm) [edit] |
I went to the cafeteria for lunch yesterday and chose the pork and pasta. I was 50% right - it WAS pasta. The meat wasn't pork though. I found out after that it was horse. Yup. It was good.
Horse - the other OTHER white meat. It's not just for breakfast anymore.
Just thought you should know.
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| What's more fun than two cows fighting? |
| 04.05.04 (4:11 am) [edit] |
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What's more fun than two cows fighting? TEN cows fighting!
We arrived around 11am to the cowfights in time for the first "Battle Royale" of the day! I thought we were going to this little event to see a handful of cows fight two at a time. Boy was I wrong! Turns out that this is a HUGE event (huge for this area anyway). There were thousands of the local Swiss there for this bovine battle. And 10 Americans.....
And the cows don't fight two at a time, oh no. They stick 10 pissed-off cows at a time into this big ring where they stomp their feet and posture for a few minutes while sizing up their opponents. THEN the fun begins - these cows lock horns, grunt, push, shove and try to intimidate their opponents into backing down until half of them are eliminated by the judges and the other half move on to the next level of competition.... It is mass confusion and fun as hell to watch!
Occasionally some of the cows would lose their bearings and charge through the piece of ROPE separating the fans from the cows. We were standing right up front (naturally) and as a result Kim Keyser ended up with about a liter of cow snot all over her jacket! I wish we had a picture of it - it was disgusting!
Speaking of disgusting - here's one for you:
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All of this entertainment PLUS beer and bratwurst just a few steps away at the booths behind us. It was kind of like Market Square Day but with pissed off cows instead of rude tourists from Massachusetts. Come to think of it, it was JUST LIKE Market Square Day.
If I live to be a hundred, I may never see as bizarre a cultural event as this one.....
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| Edgar Winter at the Cowfights |
| 04.05.04 (3:51 am) [edit] |
So THIS is where Edgar Winter went into hiding......
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| Pictures on Monday |
| 04.02.04 (3:45 am) [edit] |
Here's a teaser for some photos I plan on taking this weekend.... A few days ago we discovered an "Ossuary" next to the church about 2 minutes from our apartment. It is a wall inside a little chapel built from thousands of human skulls and bones. This is all the info I could find online:
[i]The ossuary, dating from 1514, is a two-floor, late-Gothic building with a saddle roof and open turret. Against a wall in the crypt chapel is a pile of 1500 skulls. These remains were not the local victims of epidemics or wars, but those of the deceased for whom the cemetery was simply too small. Before the wall of skulls there stands a group of baroque crucifixes and above them the inscription: "What you are, we were; what we are, you will be."
At the end of November 1985 restorators found in the ossuary behind a wall of piled up bones and skulls, a trove of statues, tablets (ex-voto) and other reliquaries. [/i]
and this:
[i]It is of interest that each church usually has associated with it a cemetery in which the graves are kept decorated, often with beautiful designs of fresh or artificial flowers. Members of succeeding generations of families are said to be buried one above the other to a depth of many feet. Then, after a sufficient number of generations have been so honored, their bodies are exhumed to make a place for present and coming generations. These skeletons are usually preserved with honor and deference. The bones are stacked in basements of certain buildings of the church edifice with the skulls facing outward. These often constitute a solid wall of considerable extent. In Naters there is such a group said to contain 20,000 skeletons and skulls.[/i]
It's really bizarre - I promise pictures next week!
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| Big Ol' Castle in Sion...... |
| 04.01.04 (4:25 am) [edit] |
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