Robot Made Out of Lions

7:12PM

http://freshpics.blogspot.com/2006/06/hitler-cats_08.html

11:52AM - above the influence

What the fuck is up with the new anti drug ads... I made this scene to reflect the meeting that inspired these new ads:

Some VP of bullshit: So we've figured out that kids no longer accept our bullshit that smoking pot will either kill you or immediately make you progress to heroin, so we gotta think of something new... anyone? anyone?

Another meaningless VP: Wait, what about our ads where they forget to do something, like pick up their little brother from a baseball practice because they were getting high?

First VP: No, no, no Im afraid they just arent as dumb as we thought.

A third meaningless VP: I've got it. Lets just make it seem like pots not that fun. That all you do is sit around doing nothing, missing all the amazing moments that define one's life...

2nd VP: I mean it could work

1st VP: Thats true, weed is no coke, it really doesnt make you want to go out in the world and be somebody.

7:27PM - Oh how I wish I could be Riley

8:49PM - Fred

Since Ive started work I have been going to the gym at around the same time (roughly somewhere between 530 and 730) and as anyone whoever has gone to the same gym around the same time for a number of days a week knows this leads to me seeing many of the same people. As I never talk to these people nor know anything about them, outside of their regular gym time, they become weird characters in my mind. My favorite by far a person Ive named Fred (most likely because Ive always wanted to know a Fred and never have). Fred is an older man (read clearly above 55) and always wears the same goofy plain blue sweat shirt to the gym. My favorite thing about Fred, by far, is his haircut, and today I finally realized why. Fred has a reverse mullet. Thats right, the sides and back are neatly buzzed and the front is (somewhat) long and combed forward. I also realized that not only is it is a reverse mullet, but his haircut is to the the reverse mullet what my haircut was to the mullet; disgusting and embarrassing. Just as I simply buzzed the front/side and left the back as a normal haircut, choosing not to shape it nor faze it in, he most likely had a simple hair cut and took clippers to the sides and back (or at least thats what I hope).

In summary... I love Fred.

2:41AM - Misconceptions of Age and a Hard Good Bye

Point 1:
As I am standing at my campus dance's bar trying to get three drinks (1 for myself and 2 for graduating seniors whom i deeply respect and have had a significant influence on the development of my character while at brown) I am immediately called out by an alumni standing next to me. This man obviously thinks I have purposely cut him in line and believes it is his duty to tell this untruth to the world. I proceed to call him out, and say that it is bullshit for one to try to draw attention to such a fact (at this point not even telling him my actions were completely unintentional and I did not even realize when I was performing the wrong he had though I had performed). He rebutted back with the spectacular, it is bullshit that you publicly called my bullshit response. At this point i began to stew and decided to ignore him and his constant remarks to the bartender trying to draw the bartender to me and what I was wearing. And after I calmly told the bartender that it was the jackasses turn and he thanked me, still not realizing that even if i had intentional put myself in front of him in line, he, as an adult and most likely a parent should exercise patience and self restraint instead of impatience and child-like vengeance, thanked me for doing such an act, obviously believing that I had repented for my 'wrong.' I, again, calmly told him that "I hope in my four years here I can grow up as much as you did." And told him that he had no right to speak to anyone in the way he did and that I did not even realize that I had 'cut him off.' By this point, the two seniors with which I had hoped to share a drink had already taken back their drink tickets and left and about 5 other people had been served before us. And though I told him off, in many ways I was very conciliatory towards him. Making it seem like what happened was no ones fault. What I should have said was "I’m sorry. I didn’t not realize you were here first when I moved from waiting 10 minutes in another spot to trying to wait in this spot where I hoped to get 3 drinks. One drink for me and two for my friend who are not only graduating but to whom I owe a lot of credit for both influencing the path I take while at Brown and the person I become as a result of my time here. This includes the idea of patience, as in, even if I had intentionally 'butt you in line' you should, as someone who as obviously enjoyed the personal grown afforded to a graduate of this fine university, have exercised. For example, they have taught me that if I were you and I thought I had been wronged I would not make it a point to try to show the whole wrong that the person who had wronged me had done such, and that I would simply wait and extra two minutes to get my wine and beer. As someone who obviously values the brown community enough to return for a reunion I feel it is remarkable that you do not trust a Brown undergrad and feel that it is your duty to try to publicly degrade him. I only hope that you have not taught your kids the patience and social decency you have exercise just now. I would like to share a drink with my friends who I will see very rarely for the rest of my life and contemplate how I can grow and mature to your level."

What I am not mentioning is that as I was stewing about how I had been treated I ignored calls from a friends cell phone. These calls were from another friend trying to tell me that our mutual friend (on whose phone he was calling) was in extreme danger of being EMSed. If I had taken these calls I could have swiftly taken my friend to a bed and fed him water. Though he will feel better in the morning after waking up in health services, and though I am not the reason he got EMSed, I could have prevented him from an unnecessary deans hearing and mark on his record. And, for ignoring this in favor of telling an adult off, I am ashamed.



Point 2:
For the first time in a very long time, this semester I have gone after someone completely. That is to say that I not only tested the waters but I did not stop there and actually put myself out for rejection and actively pursued her. She and I are very different on many superficial levels but the time I have spent with her has only made me want to spend even more time with her. She has in many ways (read: 'not too much in a physical manner though in her case I dont mind this fact in the least) reciprocated. Shes going abroad next semester and tonight it was obvious that this was the last time I would see her for 9 months. Saying goodbye to her knowing that I had, purposely, invested as little of myself as possible into our interactions (as a safety precaution) and that I would in fact see her regularly in 9 months was as hard as each of the goodbyes I said to the seniors who had affected and shaped me incredibly over that past two years, which were in their own right extremely heartfelt, emotional and extremely hard to say. And, to be honest, that scared the shit out of me.

2:50PM - Next Year, Maybe

Heres what Ive decided one, lets see how much it changes after shopping period....

EC0187 Game Theory and Applications to Economics
EC0180 Politics and Finance
EL0020-2 Word on the Street: The City in Postcolonial Literature
HI0182 American Urban History to 1870

and my fifth course that Ill hold onto for as long as possible and take S/NC
CL0131 Roman History I: The Rise and Fall of an Imperial Republic

So two econ's two urban studies and a fifth. If I keep them all, I will only have 1 econ and 5 urban studies left until each major is completed.

2:33AM

its funny, last year i defined this as 'selling my life away' and this year im the one on the other side trying to convince others to do the same.

3:15AM - Bonnaroo 2006

who's comming with me:

Radiohead, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Phil Lesh, ELVIS MOTHERFUCKING COSTELLO, Beck, Bright Eyes, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Rusted Root, Bonnie Raitt (just thought that one was hilariously awesome), Ben Folds, Damien Marley, Matisyahu, NICKLE MOTHERFUCKING CREEK, Blues Traveler...

seriously, whos comming w/ me???

6:16PM - Spring Semester

Bucking the brown trend and taking 5 classes (though i might drop my pass/fail class if it all gets to be too much) and taking over as a manager at the underground. But the workload seems little so it should be a decent semester.

CL0001 The Greeks (taking it s/nc)
PL0054 Logic
EC0177 Investments
PS0022 City Politics
EC0147 Bargaining Theory and Economics

10:43PM - Notes on London

1. Upon arriving to Heathrow Airport I notice among the throng of drivers with signs such as "Johnson" "McMichael" and the such, I see one with the sign "Alan Parson." Immediately, I hope that this a practical joke being played upon this poor sap by his friends and that he's been there for hours refusing to give in, thereby leading to his loss of job.

2. British Museums were a complete culture shock. It seemed as though any thing that was not breakable, easily steal-able or ridiculously valuable (read the rosetta stone) was left out of a case able to be touch by whomever. When placed in situations with the carefree attitude of the people working there, which is in stark contrast to American Museums where you are yelled at for being too close to the glass, these open objects were touched by many, including tour guides. I found myself standing in shock watching people working their way to help rub off the hieroglyphics of many ancient egyptian items on more than one occasion. On top of this, photography (with the exception of in the Art Museums) was encouraged.

3. What American TV can learn from British TV:
=Darts, as mindless as poker but without the excessive bad plays by amateurs and annoying table talk (think about it... i know these things made poker fun to watch in the first place but now hearing Billy Bob torment some pro he sucked out on a runner-runner just makes me want to gouge my eye-balls out). Furthermore, if theres a Darts explosion in the US (of which i promise to not be a part) it takes more douchebags away from hitting on women... allowing me more opportunities to be a douchebag hitting on women.
=Music on MTV
=***MOST IMPORTANT*** Countdown, the best game show ever devised. This show rewards people good with logic and anagrams. The basic idea is a competition between two people to see who can either make the longest word out of 9 semi-random letters (semi-random as in the player chooses 1 by 1 if they want a vowel or a consonant) in a thirty second rounds. These rounds are occasionally punctuated by number-rounds where contestants are given 6 random numbers and a goal number. They must then, in 30 seconds, devise a way to achieve the goal number using the given numbers (though they need not use all of the given numbers) and basic arithmetic (think the game 24). The game ends with an 9-letter anagram. Final note, an Oxford dictionary is part of the consolation prize, need I say more.

4. Last, I thoroughly enjoyed GB's bizarre pop culture relationship with Robbie Williams. It seems with each new album the Public convinces itself that this album will be great, knowing all the time of course that itll be complete shit. Then, when the album does not reach their expectation the public meets it with disappointment not in Robbie but in itself. This disappointment is not a 'we should have known better' but rather a sense that it was their fault that the album was bad. I cant decide if this is because they have a sense of loyalty/ownership, as in "he's our guy," or if they want to somehow find a straight George Michael.


Final Note: I am officially putting a $100 bounty on Andrew Lloyd Webber's head... he should no longer be allowed to contribute anymore crap (than he already has) to pop culture

7:28PM - I swear officer....

Courtesy of The Smoking Gun

a brief overview of the top mugshots of the year:
3.



2.



1... because i swear officer i was not huffing rust-oleum

2:05AM - feed me a stray cat

Do you like Phil Collins? I've been a big Genesis fan ever since the release of their 1980 album, Duke. Before that, I really didn't understand any of their work. Too artsy, too intellectual. It was on Duke where Phil Collins' presence became more apparent. I think Invisible Touch was the group's undisputed masterpiece. It's an epic meditation on intangibility. At the same time, it deepens and enriches the meaning of the preceding three albums. Christy, take off your robe. Listen to the brilliant ensemble playing of Banks, Collins and Rutherford. You can practically hear every nuance of every instrument. Sabrina, remove your dress. In terms of lyrical craftsmanship, the sheer songwriting, this album hits a new peak of professionalism. Sabrina, why don't you, uh, dance a little. Take the lyrics to Land of Confusion. In this song, Phil Collins addresses the problems of abusive political authority. In Too Deep is the most moving pop song of the 1980s, about monogamy and commitment. The song is extremely uplifting. Their lyrics are as positive and affirmative as anything I've heard in rock. Christy, get down on your knees so Sabrina can see your asshole. Phil Collins' solo career seems to be more commercial and therefore more satisfying, in a narrower way. Especially songs like In the Air Tonight and Against All Odds. Sabrina, don't just stare at it, eat it. But I also think Phil Collins works best within the confines of the group, than as a solo artist, and I stress the word artist. This is Sussudio, a great, great song, a personal favorite.

8:22AM

last night (during the 4 hours sleep with which i was blessed) I had a dream that I had to write a paper proving the existence of God and I only had around 3 hours left to do it. I just remember thinkign "come on dan, you can do this... you can figure this out. just bust out the paper."

I think its about time to be done with the semester.

3:25AM - when im annoyed by drunk people, you know something must be up

i love when drunk people do not understand what the phrases 'i have an exam tomorrow' and 'dont wake andy he has an exam tomorrow' mean... please come into my room again asking me to take shots and trying to wake up my roommate by shaking him.

tomorrow i will make this entry seem all too hypocritical

12:21PM - Pat

Since neither of the two numbers I have for you work (though to be honest, even if they did im sure i still wouldnt be able to reach you), I am going to have to use this... Happy Birthday.

6:39PM - New Ways to Procrastinate

Ive decided instead of just memorizing what I need to for my Macro exam tomorrow, that my time is better spent emailing my professor about my contention of Mankiw's assertion that Efficiency Wages lead to unemployment. And yes, I realize that if I had gone to class I could have addressed this issue when it was actually taught.

2:45AM - Eddie Money is My Favorite Person Ever

Seriously, what the fuck am I doing with my life?!?!

as I actually try to figure this out (and decide how not to be worthless), a quick run down of my doings over the last couple weeks:

Pledging = over
Rugby = Over (4-0-1 as B-side captain and 0-2 on A-Side games)
Classes = doing the bare minimum but doing great (almost officially deciding to add Urban Studies as a second major on top of econ)
Thanksgiving = Going to jersey to be with the family (sorry for those at home i wanted to see)
Caitlyn Roddy = Comming to visit on the first weekend of December
Weekdays = for partying

11:18AM - Blood Drive Stats

If anyone has a blood drive in the near future, here are my stats for you to try to beat:
Pulse: 70 (awful, you should beat this)
Blood Pressure: 104/64
Time to Fill the Pint: 4:30 (if you beat this then you are a machine)

5:59PM - Hilariousness

Once in a while the BDH produces a gem and makes me somewhat proud of the journalism at Brown, this is one of them. Pat you will love this.

1:01AM - cant decide if this is a joke or not

but i couldnt resist showing a couple treasures found from This Site.



'I don't want that to happen! When I grow up I will make sure all the Atheists hear the Word and get fixed so they can go to Heaven with me and Katie and her friend and you and Jesus. Don't you want to help them do that too?' - Katie



You know, I always got the impression that the path to salvation was a lot more complicated and filled with many more obstacles. Shit if this is all it takes, sign me up