Trees are poems the earth pens in the sky. -- (my translation) (author forgotten) quote recently layed into the sidewalk under the ancient maple at Albertplatz.
I like the quote, and it sounds so much more elegant in German. But one thing is for sure: maples give off a damn raunchy stench.
But that reminded me. What ever happened to the guy? Don't you remember? There used to be a freaky guy -- a street performance artist, if you will -- who used to stand at the crosswalk near the Tree at Albertplatz. He had printed out poetic hack ramblings about atomic energy and money and lifestyle pinned to himself front and back. Later he made a bulky box suit covered with it. He just stood there for hours everyday at the crosswalk and stared at the ground.
Where did he go? I probably haven't seen him in a year or so. I always liked seeing him around. People like him made our little village look a hell of a lot bigger. Too bad his poetry was utter garbage. Still, I think that cat had his heart in the right place.
I've got the listening comprehension test written. Now, I just need to get a recording of another native speaker other than myself to read it aloud in the microphone.
I found a rastafarian dude from kenya at the park yesterday who said he'll do it. This test is gonna be irie, mon.
Yesterday, one of my conversation classes at a private school came up with the idea of reading a book together. Some students brought in some English books they had lying 'round. The Great Gatsby (wouldn't mind reading again) The Catcher in the Rye (oh gawd) 1984 (oh not again) something by Hornsby... But these books would be way to frustrating for these folks... Just the week before, we slogged through a two page article from the Old Farmer's Almanac about Washington's teeth. Fascinating, really. I mean, did you know that at the time of his inauguration he only had one tooth left, and the dentures he had made for the occassion used carved hippo ivory as well as real teeth from cadavers? Almanac articles are at any rate light reading meant for perusal on the shitter.
So I thought about the authors I read when I was learning German. Michael Ende was by far my favourite, but who could... Oh, I know.
"Has anyone ever read Harry Potter?" I haven't, and as it turns out, neither has anyone in that class. And it was settled like that. We're gonna read a chapter of Potter over the week and talk about it in class.
So I'm getting paid to read Harry Potter. I'm going to have a great flight in July, I bet. God, I love my job.
Beyond the Euphrates began for us the land of mirage and danger, the sands where one helplessly sank, and the roads which ended in nothing. The slightest reversal would have resulted in a jolt to our prestige giving rise to all kinds of catastrophe; the problem was not only to conquer but to conquer again and again, perpetually; our forces would be drained off in the attempt. - Emperor Hadrian AD 117-138
Welcoming esteemed colleague Skreeder to the blogosphere. Daev @ 09:32 AM CST [Link]
Dude. I can't believe I made an analogy with the anti-open source "fragmenting" argument to the formation of the Roman-Catholic church on Wednesday. Still, you gotta admit that it kind of fits.
That got me to thinking about the presentation in the earlier class. I believe Maya, the CGI industry standard, was mentioned. Now, I'm not sure about this, but I would suspect that the name comes from the Hindu/Buddhist vocabulary, meaning all that tangible stuff that distracts one from true enlightenment. That would be to say, the reality we see -- objects, desires, tables and chairs etc -- are but shadows that hide existence's true form.
'Twould be truly fitting, after all, seeing as Maya creates realistic 3D worlds that are really nothing but the shadows of ones and zeroes.
Show me a man who lives alone and has a perpetually dirty kitchen, and 5 times out of 9 I'll show you an exceptional man. - Charles Bukowski, namesake grandfather of my upstairs' neighbor Sara Bukowski, who happens to be a mongrel.
This week the Big User in the Sky pushed CTRL + ALT + DEL on Jack St. Clair Kilby, inventor of the microchip. TI
He and his team were able to integrate thousands of semiconductor transistors into a teeny tiny little chip, thus finding a feasible alternative to tubes and relays and leading us onto a great new era of all sorts of boolean tomfoolery.
Usually when kids ask for a pet, the parents get all squirrely, worrying about responsibility and litter boxes. But not Zontar. Little shirtless Darno asks for a pet, and Daddy gets him a giant gorilla made out of stone, a 16-legged triceratops that shoots fireballs, a dragon with heat vision, and two glob things that go "Wiggy wiggy wiggy" all the time.
Last weekend Little Steven had Brian Wilson on as a guest on his syndicated radio show "Little Steven's Underground Garage", marking Brian's birthday. Very cool. Listen in the archives. It's episode 168.
AS FAR as I know, Saturday at the BRN came to an end without any of the kind of bullshit that has come up in the last two years what with riot cops and all. There seemed to be a tad fewer people out and about after midnight than I remembered from earlier years, two. I, for one, am glad that they banned glass containers again this year--the ground was peppered with solo cup snowflakes.
Thanks to all who tuned into my show today. It was my first time to do that sort of thing, but looking back, I made several mistakes from which I learned something: [more]
Scientists list everthing that can go awry FULLERTON, CA—A worldwide consortium of scientists, mathematicians, and philosophers is nearing the completion of the ambitious, decade-long project of cataloging everything that can go wrong, project leader Dr. Thomas R. Kress announced at a press conference Tuesday.
I am always interested in the people in films who have just had a drink thrown in their faces. Sometimes they react with uncontrollable rage, but sometimes - my favorites - they do not change their expressions at all. Instead they raise a handkerchief or napkin and calmly dab at the offending liquid, as the hurler jumps to her feet and storms away. The other people at the table are understandably uncomfortable. A woman leans over and places her hand on the sleeve of the man's jacket and says, "David, you know she didn't mean it." David answers, "Yes," but in an ambiguous tone - the perfect adult response. But now the orchestra has resumed its amiable and lively dance music, and the room is set in motion as before. Out in the parking lot, however, Elizabeth is setting fire to David's car. Yes, this is a contemporary film.
DDC is playing Friday at the BRN. Friday, 18.00 on the stage in front of Mondpalast, on the corner of Louisenstr and Kamenzerstr. No glass containers, please.
Also, at the same time on Saturday (11 am Nashville time), be sure to tune in to my show on Outaspace. If you're listening on the internet, you's gonna need the peercast software, and winamp. Here. Download Peercast here. And Here should be the link to the radioshow. For those of you in town, keep your eyes peeled for the radio frequency posted on walls in a day or so. I can't tell you now because I am sworn to pirate secrecy. Arrrr.
I was just reading a nice interview with the Brothers Chaps of Homstarrunner and something familiar caught my eye.
I remember around the time we introduced the character Marshy in his own little commercial, we got an e-mail from a kid who was saying how he didnt think it belonged on the site, and it was so out of character with the rest of everything. I thought that was incredible.
That's funny that he remembered. I wrote that email.
On Saturday the 18th at 6 pm to 7 pm I'm DJing for Outaspace, the pirate radio station. Yes, you can listen on the internet as well. Anyhoo, I've decided to do a Nashville hour. So all you Nashvegas guys with bands send me an mp3 and I'll play it if I have time. Boro bands are also welcome to submit. No Clarksville bands, please. Send them to this address:
Well it's a little village near Cottbus that is getting a new one ripped courtesy of a certain Swedish mining company. But it's also where the party is at this weekend. This June une une 10th and 11th eventh eventh eventh... The Lacoma love and rock fest est est est... We're gonna rock out and tell those mofos who are all about digging holes in the ground that they can go dig a hole you-know-where...
As it turns out, Dude Dude Chick will be the first band on Saturday. And I have read that they will be foaming at the mouth. Probably a wicked show. I wish them well.
Remember White Rabbit
