Nothing of note

This blog is primarily a description of my life in Prague, and a travelogue of my expeditions across eastern europe. Blogging has been pathetic of late. This is due both to the lack of travel, and the lack of interesting things happening to me. I had originally moved to Bohemia to avoid becoming another corporate drone, endlessly sitting through teleconferences and sending spreadsheets to the netherrealm of 'management review'. And, of course, I've arrived in such an environment. There are only two interesting items. 1) The other day I saw a guy walking a ferret. 2) One of my colleagues emailed some hardcore gay porn to a company director. I could comment on both of these, but I think they stand well on their own. --- Oh, and i haven't had a beer in a month. That's pretty fucked up.

Seasons changing

Ciao, winter! As I annoyingly kept saying in czech over the weekend, "Nemam rad dlouhou zimu", which translates as "I don't like long winters." This might be obvious, but as one of the few things I can actually say in czech, it works well as a conversation starter. Last week I had the feeling that a bear has the right idea - as autumn arrives he gorges on honey and fish, occasionally roughousing with some nomadic male invading on his territory. Hopefully he mates, then contentedly he curls up in a furry ball for the duration of the winter. After a nice nap, and covered in several months of urine, he emerges, bathes, and starts trying to mate again. Our animal friends have much to teach us. I, on the other hand, was trudging through snowdrifts in loafers, searing profusely and talking to myself, God, or whoever, commenting upon how crappy everything seemed. But as I laid about in Nove Mesto, it started to rain. No snow - actual unfrozen rain. Some of the 10-foot high snowdrifts made their way down to about 8 feet. And all across the countryside, still hibernating under a blanket of snow, steam rose off the icy covering, giving a weird foggy quality to the train ride back to Prague. And finally - a sunset! All winter the sky is monochrome - gray during the day, black at night. But last night on the train there was an honest to God sunset - purple sky, red blazing sun, complete with swirls of clouds and stars all around. The czech people in my compartment went crazy, pointing and moving around the train to keep an eye on the thing. Now it's 70 degrees outside. Absolutely positively preposterous. There's gotta be mass flooding in the countryside - I mean it was freezing 2 days ago. And it had been freezing for 5 months. Now it's 70. Trees have buds. I have sanity again. And soon there will be beergardens. April 16th is Easter, and I will once more partake in that golden brew. As Ben Franklin once said "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." Amen

Overreaction

My colleague and I moved away from the computer as I pressed 'OK'. Nothing happened, I was a bit disappointed.

bah

There are several reasons blogging has been poor: 1) My girlfriend tore up her knee while skiing last weekend. She was going down a blue slope (blue being the easiest) when some german guy, who obviously couldn't ski, crashed into her. Walking is out of the question, and she's now staying with her parents until she can take care of herself again. It really sucks 2) My job takes up a lot of time. I worked 12 hours yesterday 3) I'm taking a czech class right now - 1 month long, 7 hours a week. No time for anything else.

Global warming

It's cold as shit here. About a week ago it seemed as though spring had begun its inexorable march, with temperatures reaching the balmy 40's, accompanied by some spring showers and singing birds. Then I awoke on Sunday morning to find the place blanketed with snow. again. In the middle of march, damn it. Apparently global warmiming is going to make Europe colder. Now this continent is sometimes ass-backwards, but even this seemed unbelievable. But apparently Europe is kept unnaturally warm due to the effects of the Gulf Stream, which move tropical water directly from the equator up to the west coast of europe. Global warming has a good chance of shutting this down. So Toronto is going to get hotter, and London will be colder. I have also read the argument that most people don't give a shit about global warming because Humans are essentially a tropical animal - we like the heat. Has anyone noticed that the Europeans are really the only ones shouting about climate change? Did I just blow your mind or what? Anyway, some links: 1) The world history blog: I love this site. 2) Kingsley Amis, Man of Drink: From Modern Drunkard magazine. Wow. 3) Woman gets beer from kitchen faucet: We can all dream 4) Some pictures of Rome: 'Cause who can get enough? (Note: I didn't take these, just found them.) 5) Sidewalk art: This is how it's done. 6) Chongquing, China: This city in China already has 32 million people and takes up more land than Belgium. That's nuts.

St. Patrick saves the day

I recall that there was a book published a few years ago titled "How the Irish Saved Civilization". This post is not about that. As previously mentioned on this illustrious blog, I have given up beer for Lent. I'm not entirely sure that this bit of self-flagellation is bringing me any closer to Our Lord and Saviour, but I've held myself together so far, and have no intention of giving in. My Irish colleague, Aidan, just came by to discuss plans for Saint Patrick's Day. Aidan and I, along with our Scottish colleague Craig and a few others, celebrated last year's Saint's day with such religious fervor that your average bearded fundamentalist would be proud. But, with my fasting going strong, I had to decline Aidan's invitation for an encore. The Irishman would have none of that. He told me that it's 'perfectly acceptable' for the average denizen of the emerald isle to break their fast for Saint Patrick's day. As a descendant of intrepid Irish settlers to the new world, I am expected to hold true to the beliefs and traditions of my ancestors. Furthermore, St. Patrick's is a religious festival in which consumption of beer is another way of bringing Man and God into spiritual union. Thank you Aidan, ancestors, and brewers. And thank you, Saint Patrick. Thank God for the Irish.

Harry Potter and the Cause of Insomnia

My first encounter with the Potter franchise came with an afternoon rerun of "Sorcerer's Stone" on HBO. I was decidedly unimpressed. It was like a crappy knock-off kids version of Lord of the Rings. And it was directed by the guy that made Macauley Culkin a superstar - an ominous sign for the future of any actor or franchise. I saw "Chamber of Secrets" in a similar manner, and found it to be much better - but still a children's fable of precocious youth foiling a silly plot. After that I moved to europe and drank a lot of beer, generally forgetting about the whole thing. But my friend Michal told me the books were really good, so I read the first two and was impressed. They were childrens books...but entertaining and fun and much better than the movies. After this I went back for my summer of sloth, and I saw "Prisoner of Azkaban". I was amazed - what a fantastic movie. It was so far beyond the first two that I was unable to compare - it was like the boring girl at the office who suddenly gets a makeover and starts wearing shirts two sizes too small - in a good way, of course. I loved it. But then I kinda forgot about that too... Then this winter I saw "Goblet of Fire", which was improbably better than the last. My gf then started to read the books, finally having read 'The half-blood prince' just a few days ago. She convinced me to give the books another go, and I picked up 'Prisoner of Azkaban' at JFK on my way back from training a few weeks ago. And now I can't sleep or work very effectively, because I'm so excited to get back and read these damn books. i'm currently on "order of the phoenix", which doesn't have all that much action. But the characters are so great, the plot so intricate and exciting, that I really can't tear myself away. I am ashamed to say that I made fun of my friends (Dana, specifically) whenever I saw one reading these damn kids books. But now I understand. I actually see people reading the Potter books on the metro several times a week. I've been recommending them to everyone I can, but they laugh and say they're not going to read kids books. Well let me tell you: if you get through the third book and then are able physically stop yourself from running to the nearest bookstore for 'Goblet of Fire', I pity you, you heartless bastard. Probably the most enjoyable book discovery since I found out "Master and Commander" was fucking awesome. So what are you waiting for? Join the kindergarten and read "Harry Potter"

Et cetera

I've decided my blog should be more of a travelogue/beerlogue than anything else. This presents a problem for now, as I have not gone anywhere in a long time, and am getting cabin fever (i'm tired of being in the same place). Also, I've given up beer for Lent - a full week now I've been sans pivo. It's an enlightening experience. pity me.

The Ides of March

I hate winter. And apparently there is a band called "belle and sebastian" that I hate even though I only heard their song once, while inebriated. Damn it, where's spring?