Frisbee Love

I try to keep my daily what I had for breakfast, how I biked to work, and how I smell off of this here blog. Sometimes I get emails from friends saying “I read the blog, but how are you really.” Normally these kind souls care alot… so much so.. they want to know about the bicyclemark heart, and “how I’m doin.”

So this evening, allow me to ignore how completely non-human and rythmless GW Bush looked clapping along to traditional Georgian music (country not the state!), and give you a personal something:

Monday nights have become ultimate frisbee night. Stop that chuckling, because it’s serious business down in the south of amsterdam. I was shocked to find a huge colony of frisbee fanatics who play everyweek and participate in all kinds of local and international tournaments. Yeah— I myself wonder what the hell Im doing there. But then today, in between pretending my legs weren’t sore from last weeks grueling match, I found my inspiration.

She’s cute. Let’s immidiately get that out of the way. I tried not to talk, cause I secretly dream of being considered mysterious. So I stretched, gave a friendly hello to the players I had met before, waited for her to come to me, and looked right into her eyes and slipped right into the mud under me.

OK no, not really. I kept my balance, but I did look deep into those lovely eyes and I said hello, trying not to flinch, cause why lose a second of such beauty. Then I played it cool, lined up near but not too near her, passed to her not too often, and listened with great joy whenever she’d shout my name and name the play she wanted me to run. I was convinced she was only doing this for me. And I was happy.

Anyway the rest is uneventful. On-field crushes are wonderfully perfect, and I can’t wait to see her at the next game. At which time, I hope we get to look at each other alot, chit-chat in Dutch, and run around a muddy field together. Wow – I know — that’s hot!

ps — If she finds this, I’m ruined.

And — this blogger rocks, without fail.

Lame Duck Democracy

For those who somehow didn’t notice, and maybe I can’t blame you since it was so uneventful, the UK had parliamentary elections a few days ago. I’ll not keep you in suspense… labour won. Again. And again. I mean they got less votes, but when you live in a one-party country you can still win with a bad turn out. (sorry Lib Dems, Conservatives, “others” you just don’t count) You thought the situation was bleak in the US, Tony Blair could have gone on television shown his ass, and declared it a campaign — he still would have won. Hooray for democracy.

But wait, it’s not a total sham. I myself stayed up til 3am watching the returns on the BBC. Two major things kept me glued to the telly….

  • 1 – Jeremy Paxman, the very blunt and bold BBC guy, ridiculing Cabinet Member Jack Straw for pretending everything was great when his party had just done pretty poorly.
  • The best was watching the returns per region. I loved hearing the Welsh language announcements and I kept thinking of Eddy Izzard doing his Welsh accent. I also loved hearing the Scottish accents, and generally the random little parties that get like 30 votes being announced. Reminded me of the Monty Python skit… oh.. better save that for the podcast.

    • Generally speaking, the only silver lining is that it was very obvious that people were voting their disapproval at having been lied to about the need to invade Iraq. The only trouble is that not enough of them did it, and as usual – there is no real alternative to vote for.

    Tomorrow on the podcast, bring a pen, we’re learning about the European Constitution and my first hand experience as an EU citizen. The gloves are coming off, Im tired of all the fallacies and half-truths.

    Field of Memories

    Its been over 2 years, but I still go back there. The rims are actually in worse shape then they were back then, as if that were possible. Neighbors still walk through on their way home from work or the supermarket. You still have to be careful that the ball doesn’t roll into the street, in the direction of the Dutch marine base. The students still glance your way as they lock their bikes and head inside.

    Back in the day, this court was bussling with activity on Thursday evenings or whenever our crew decided it was game time. 5 on 5, full court, half court, 2 on 2, we played it all. Rain… wind.. sun.. rain… rain. We played. It was Sweden vs Germany, Ireland vs. Norway, UK vs. Iceland, and of course, US vs. Canada. Man did we get our asses beat by team Canada. They even showed up in uniforms… we were baffled.

    Some traditions never die in international Amsterdam. The pub crawls, the boat rides, the dinner parties, the meetings at Vondelpark. But one tradition that most definitely died after our year graduated, -never again was there a weekly basketball match. Never again was there a crew of people, who no matter how busy, or where their new apartment was, would find their way back to our sacred court for a match.

    But I’m a bit like a ghost. I still haunt the court. I still run up and down and curse the wobbly rim, just like old times. People look over at me with blank stares, looking at the guy playing alone. I sometimes think they might be remembering those days as well.

    People’s Herstory

    Twas the night before liberation day and all through the city, not a creature was stirring, except maybe a Portuguese-American riding back from Rock-n-Roll Amy’s. Some children are probably nestled all snug in their beds, while bm sits at his powerbook and listens to a People’s history of the United States on audio book.

    Perhaps you know of Howard Zinn’s thick but compelling History told from the people’s experiences. Nothing to do with that crap they’re dishing out in American public and private schools. I would know, I went through both and in the end — learned more from the people than from the outdated, poorly compiled history books. But I digress, this audio version is narrated by Matt Damon. I’ve never thought much of him as an actor really, wasn’t he the star in Ryan’s privates? Well, I can say that it’s cool to hear this book narrated by this voice. It’s crisp, familiar, and well.. nice.

    Who would you like to hear narrate your copy of People’s History, or any other book for that matter? I’d want James Earl Jones! When I was little, his voice was the official one of NJ’s phonecompany… Bell Atlantic. It was always fun to hear him whenever you dialed information. Some voices instantly ellicit respect and attention.

    I would also like to add that Howard Zinn himself reads the preface and conclusion, and I’ve heard him on Democracy Now many times. He has a good New England voice. We have a friend in common, so hopefully one day soon, he and I will sit and have a drink. I’d like to hear more of his life and his experiences. I can just picture it; that will be a truely great day.