Sunday, October 28, 2007

dinner with adolf h.

On Friday, Stefanie and I went for dinner at this German restaurant in Augusta. Upon entering the restaurant we were greeted with German flags, maps and pictures of numerous places in Germany, soccer posters, and several memorabilia from the World Cup in 2006.....basically a huge German explosion in our face....In the midst of all this I spotted a German license plate behind the bar that read "Adolf". Well, let's say .... let's just say that that was something new to me. After talking to the waitress we found out that the owner is German and cooks himself. His name is Adolf and his last name starts with an H.

The food was good - Adolf H. really knows how to cook...

Friday, October 26, 2007

Grim thoughts on the ATL Hawks

This opposing scout is a bit of a pessimist, but he has no love for you 2008 Atlanta Hawks. While I don't agree with everything he says and he's a little dismissive of players who obviously have talent (like Marvin Williams) I think he hits the nail on the head with Josh Smith. Sign to a long term deal at your own risk, Billy Knight.

But who is General Tso?

I am definitely getting The Eater's Guide to Chinese Characters before the next time I go exploring Buford Highway. It's like a phrase book that allows you to order from the untranslated menu (you know, the one with all the really authentic dishes they only give to Chinese customers).

McCawley was a University of Chicago linguistics professor, but apparently he had a pretty well-developed and punny sense of humor. He published some higly regarded scholarly papers under the name of Quong Phuc Dong from the South Hanoi Institute of Technology (get it?).

Saturday, October 20, 2007

TV

I agree with Senor Huevos on The Wire's place in TV history. Here are some of my other favorites...
1. Ring of Fire
2. Manimal
3. V
4. In Search Of...
5. The Master
6. B.J. and the Bear
7. Cheers...duh

Friday, October 19, 2007

Medieval Times Pics:

the ladyfriend and i stand outside "the castle"...

...and then enjoy a sip of mead from the oversized medieval times chalice purchased for me by the bowman.

spenser and megan louise, both hauntingly attractive as always.

our perfect vantage for the jousting action.

our hero, the black & white knight. a serious pimp.

following the tournament our entire group was intoxicated with the joy that only a night of noble sport can bring. a magnificent evening indeed.
thank you to knasselhoff for taking these pics. and many thanks to everybody who made it out, it was the finest 29th birthday a fella could have.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

the best show in the history of television.

regular readers of 4KS will certainly be aware of my opinion of hbo's the wire (in case anyone has forgotten, i have elucidated that opinion above). well 4KS chum willis miller turned me on to a nice piece on the show that appears in the newest new yorker. good insight into the goals and outlook of the show's creators, as well some indications of what to expect for next season (which begins in january). it's a lengthy read, but definitely worth your time.

Monday, October 15, 2007

In the wee, wee hours

If there were any justice in the world, people would be running through the streets naked everytime The Arcade Fire's most recent CD, Neon Bible came on. While it got a decent amount of publicity, sales and critical admiration it also suffered somewhat from the indifference of an indie rock community that is often just as quick to toss out it's heroes as a twelve year old girl is. Still, it seems they have one fan that matters, who put out a pretty damn good CD himself recently. Also, check out this link for a video that is pretty cool, you can screw around with it endlessly by clicking on various spots on the screen.

Friday, October 12, 2007

Well done Al !

If my girlfriend doesn’t have time to read the news she asks me at the end of the day to tell her only about the good things that happened. Today is a day that comes with some real good news and I cannot wait to tell her.

Al Gore, the best president that America never had, and the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) won the Nobel Peace Price today. I have to admit that I didn’t expect Gore to win the price but I’m nonetheless very delighted about this year's choice of the Norwegian committee.

Even though I’m probably happier about the IPCC winning the price, I have to say that Al Gore deserves it. He has been doing important work in the field of global environmental protection for a long time. For longer than a lot of people would assume. The first time I came across one of his books was in an International Environmental Law seminar in law school in Germany. I was impressed about the vision of this author that I didn’t know.

Al Gore deserves this price. However, I can already hear the right wing starting their attacks on him and the Norwegian committee (it would be very interesting to watch Bill O’Reilly today). Yes, Al Gore lives in a big house in Tennessee. A house that is not energy efficient at all and quite the opposite of what he preaches. And yes, not all the “truths” in his movie are really based on the plain facts and the research that is out there. Nonetheless, and once again: He deserves the price.

He deserves it because he has brought the issue of global warming to the attention of a big general public, not only in America but across the globe. He tried to bring the issue to the attention of people who haven’t read the super important findings of the IPCC Panel this year and people who don’t even know what the IPCC is. I’m sure that the slowly changing attitude of the American general public with respect to global warming and its effects played an important role in the fact that George Bush finally (indirectly) acknowledged the existence of global warming this year.

The Norwegian committee definitely made a political statement with this year’s price, whether it wanted to or not. According to its charter it is not allowed to make any political statement with awarding the Nobel Peace Price. However, I’m glad it did. This is a powerful political message. A message that the leaders of this world will have problems with if they continue arguing the way they do.

The current president has put into perspective the announcements that he made after this year’s G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany. After big hopes, especially in Europe, he announced once again in the last weeks that he will not accept anything that will go beyond voluntary measures. Everyone knows voluntary doesn’t work. It never has. It’s like asking people to pay as much taxes as they want. This award for Gore, an American, will hopefully be a burden for Bush in the upcoming global climate talks. It’ll be interesting to see how the world reacts if Bush doesn't commit to more than he proposed in the last weeks. It’ll be even more interesting to see how America reacts if he doesn’t.

I hope that Al Gore’s Nobel Peace Price will be an obligation not only for the American government but also for the American people to do way more than just waiting for those new hybrid cars and all those new technologies that Bush is proposing. It’s more than that. If you have time on your hands go to the IPCC website and read the recent panel reports. Read what they have to say about global warming and its effects in the last century and especially in the last decade. Read what’s at stake. Read why countries like the US, China, Canada, Australia, Spain, and Japan have to change their policies with respect to global warming dramatically. If you think you understood what they found out, do more research. Then ask yourself what you can do and act! Once again: I understand this Nobel Peace Price, awarded to one of your own great people, as an obligation not only to your government but also as an obligation to every single one of you. Environmental protection is no longer only a political issue. It has become a moral one as well.

Today’s news leave me wondering: Should I be sad or happy about the findings of the Supreme Court in 2000. Al Gore as a president wouldn't have had the time to fight for what is so important. On the other hand, I can only imagine what the U.S. would be like today especially with respect to its reputation.

For Al Gore today is a day of delayed gratification. It’s funny how life gives back to people it didn’t treat well in the past. Well done Al!

Sunday, October 07, 2007

I'm OK...

So...I wrote this long, indulgent piece on how my life has been since last Sunday when the Mets completed one of the greatest collapses ever. At some point today I decided that it was a bit much so, to sum it up: (1) I'm obviously upset they lost, (2) It kinda ruined last Sunday and Monday, (2.5) It gave innumerable hacks across the country the opportunity to use the headline "Amazin' Mess" for the 8 billionth time since SI did it in 1991 (3) But it's really not that bad when (4) You've been through the misery of 1991-1996 and 2002-2004 and (4) When you think about (5) The Met core is actually fairly exciting to think about and (6) most of those shitty pitchers probably won't even be Mets by next season. In lieu of an article, inspired by JF mentioning that he's been writing a lot of haiku, here's one of my own...
October came slow
With dead leaves and slow pitchers
New arms for Christmas

Friday, October 05, 2007

fear him...

i saw on this thing on the history channel last week, said that charles manson used to have sex 7-8 times per day with the various ladies in his twisted coterie of acid freaks [also mentioned that neil young was a huge fan of his music].

all the more reason to be concerned by the sauce and his famously herculean sexual potency.

Thursday, October 04, 2007

revelry not to be missed.

need to give some approbation to the mesmerization eclipse crew and their upcoming shenanigans. friday's show at the 40 watt should be off the rocker. the lineup includes the sensual sounds of night moves, fairmount fair, the france, flip & brah, and headliners buzz-generating indie-reggae stalwarts still flyin'. each one of these acts, individually, would be worth making it out for. playing together, they represent a genuine mindfuckapolooza.