Toast, Wi-Fi, and Beirut

It seems as though Blonde But Buttery and I have these semi-daily chats where we conduct the blogosphere round-up. This whole week we’ve been working as co-group leaders for new students via the International Student Network, and I’m pretty sure our whole group thinks we’re either insane or the biggest internet nerds EVER. Despite the fact that we have a lovely collection of Spanish, German, Israeli, Canadian, American, Japanese, British, French, and Polish students, this is our third intro gig and we’re considering retirement. The parties have lost some of their luster, the routine is too routine, and shit – we’re workin’ folk. Still there’s so much to learn from these dynamic people who find their way over to Amsterdam academia.

Speaking of academia, ESchool had a post about Philly wanting to become the wi-fi capital of the US – having the largest wireless internet hotspot citywide. Now it sounds lovely in theory, and I admit that if it comes true I might have to make a pilgrimage there like a hippy to Woodstock. HOWEVER, It is hard to believe.

Only two years ago my little Plymouth Sundance was set ablaze overnight in South Philly, and suddenly the city has prioritized putting wi-fi everywhere? All I ask of you Philly, is that you first tackle the problem of random arson and say – violent crime, before (or at the same time as) you make everyone into a Netizen. I’m sure the kids will love it though, after a hard day of setting things on fire, jump on the web and learn about nuclear fission.

My dear friend, co-worker, and occasional musical partner Amy (she’s a celeb so I can call her by her real name) recently returned from a personal pilgrimage to Lebanon. Her stories and her photos have completely fascinated me, add to that a pair of wonderful Lebanese ladies that I befriended in the last months… suddenly I’m learning tidbits of history and culture. So I started flipping through the Daily Star, which I haven’t done since June. I have noticed in the last few days the news about France and the US pushing for Syria to pull its 20,000 troops out of Lebanon. They’ve been there since the end of the civil war that I believe started in the late 70’s til the early 90’s. Obviously this blogger is in favor of such a move, at long last. But I digress, the point was Lebanon seems like a beautiful and mystical place, and when I look at these photos I see scenes that remind me of Portugal. Guess it’s a Mediterranean thing.

I might ask Amy to guestblog a bit on her experience… yeah.. that would be fun.

Also next week I’ve decided to have a theme…. “South America.” Pretty broad, I know, but my each of my posts will have some element related to that part of the world, besides my usual verbage.

Today’s Music: Rancid – indestructible

We the Other People

Yes, it's a bear with a bikeOfficially moved in and back with my ADSL connection, hence redecorating and all kinds of changes in the near future. Let me know if the changes are to your approval. While it’s true to a certain extent that I blog for myself, you the readers are what fuels my commitment to blogging every-other-day. Speaking of which, big spike in my blog readership yesterday, surprising numbers coming from the European Union. Thanks to everyone for sticking with the communiqu?. But enough about me.

So as part of being back in my cozy pad in Amsterdam Centrum, the roomates and I tend to cook dinner together. Today’s kitchen conversation was a classic, which I’ve had with various international friends for the past few years: How much they wish non-Americans could vote in the US election. Before you start yelling, stay with me; the US is obviously a very unique country in the world. Nothing to do with the usual bullshit about freedom and democracy, both of which are relative terms and exist all over the world. It has to do with the influence: economic, cultural, political, that the US has over the world. Basically, as I’ve said before on the blog, what happens in the US effects everyone everywhere. It is this reason, as far as I can tell, that so many international folk will sigh as they watch the lame speeches in MSG and demonstrations on the street, and they’ll say “I wish everyone in the world could get to vote for the US president.”

When you think about it, it’s often very frustrating normally for Americans to look at their own government. Here I’m talking about folks who share the frustration, and have no say in the matter. And the opposite cannot be said, it wouldn’t really matter if Americans could vote for the president of Colombia or the Netherlands, because no other nation wields such power over everyone’s future.

Onto other business: My/Our blog generation continues to grow. JZ (he needed a nickname) recently launched “Sunlight Disinfectant”. While I rarely agree with the man about politics, I do agree with his idea to blog and I’ll gladly – sometimes disagreeably – read his writing. This increases the number of bloggers I’ve helped get started to 4 in the last six months. Did anyone notice the term I coined: BLOG GENERATION, you heard it here first from the finger tips of Bicyclemark. It’s “catch-terms” like these that will propel me into a career in academia… yeee haw.

Oh yeah.. I should talk about Agassi next time.

Today’s Music: Bouncing Souls (cause I saw them the other night)

McBlog

Somewhere on the net… you knew there had to be a blog called McBlog, altogether it doesn’t look that interesting. What is interesting is that I finally saw Supersize Me last night (remember I live in the cinema-third world called Europe where films arrive by row-boat)Allow me to reflect, if you will, on my cinema-going documentary-viewing experience:

Though I don’t get to the cinema often, I feel this documentary is the best of the year. Surpassing F-911, and that’s not a knock against Michael Moore – I refuse to join that whole trend of Moore-baiting. I just felt it was clear, informative, entertaining, relatively empirical, and shit… who didn’t worry about his health as the month slowly went by. But there is one factor is this film that I feel deserves the utmost attention: The branding of children in schools; getting them while they’re young. If I ran a country, besides having the most unproductive and lazy economy ever, marketing to children would be considered a heinous crime.

I can remember, as alot of you might, my high school experience in the mecca of suburbia= Union, NJ. I recall comparing schools and almost gloating that Union High had Burger King Food, a Shop Rite (supermarket), and a Bank (Union Center). For whatever reason, it seemed cool because we loved such brands. Now I shudder to think about the side-effects and implications. I can also remember visiting, I think, Brick High School (NJ) and everywhere I walked having a Coca-Cola advert in my face. When I think about all those struggling schools with financial and “test-result” troubles, it angers me to think how companies sneak in offering money or textbooks in exchange for some good clean product placement. Come to think of it, I also remember those bastards who provided grade-X food at the University Dining hall at WPU.(they’re in the film too)

Apparently the director and star of the film has a similar concern, he wants to get the film shown at every school somehow. I hope teachers will make it a priority to not just show the film, but really discuss and examine the issue to better-equip our little future consumers.

incidentally he – Morgan Spurlock – keeps an outstanding blog complete with RSS feed. Today I read about his experience in Finland – hilarious, my Finnish readers (hi guys!) might especially enjoy since it involves drinking, saunas, and nakedness.

Next post I’ll be officially moved in, with all new graphics and colors, and ready to tear-into the RNC in NYC. It has begun, and now more than ever- I wish I was in NYC cause I’d walk all over their grass alongside a million people who think its insulting to have this convention in NYC. Here’s the Moblog from where I follow the action.(recall my past post about NYC as sacred ground)

Oh yeah- I will also have to talk about the Olympic Medal Count as a reflection of global economics. Hmmmm.

Today’s Music: Coheed and Cambria mix with Taking Back Sunday (since the show is tonight)

You Feel Sick?

As soon as the reports came out, I decided it was my responsibility as a blogger, a slash-American, and a human on this earth, to analyze the Health and Poverty statistics from the US Census Bureau. For what we should always remember is that what happens in the US has effects the world-over.

So lets take a net-trip together, shall we, to the lovely US Census Bureau. Come’on, it could be fun, besides, they’re celebrating “10 years on the web” which is just a year behind me. While we’re out, it could be wise to stop by the Kaiser Family Foundation which has nothing to do with World War 1, but instead, handles health statistics.

Basically it breaks down like this:

– 45 million people in the US are without health insurance, including yours truely (though I’m in exile) Thats 2 million more people from 2002 to 2003. So that’s 15% of the population. How insane is that? If I, an uninsured blogger, get eastern-feasle disease, I won’t go to hospital until I’m pretty much dead because I can’t afford it. And in the process of dying, I’m sure to cough and sneeze and spread the feasle spores to a couple of thousand people. You follow me here? OK let me stop the rumors right now, I don’t have such a virus… and I confess.. I made it up. But I had a point!

More stats for thought:

-8.4 million children had no insurance in 2003, and those are not short-term situations.

-33% of all Black and Asian Americans are without insurance. Equality here we come!

The rest I leave up to you to read and evaluate. Oh yeah and the worst state-with the highest amount of uninsured- Texas. Nevermind that they’re on the border, they should have had a proper plan, long ago, for those circumstances. This is not my attempt at a campaign message, both of the siamese American political parties have created this situation, along with a public that has been too quiet about it. If any time were ever good for getting mad, now would be good.

If you want more busblog, in between great photo essays, takes a bite into poverty statistics as well. Then there’s buzzmachine’s buzzing.

I’m interested in Dave Chapelle’s plan – “Fake Canadian ID’s for ALL AMERICANS.” There’s a candidate I’d vote for.

Today’s Music: Michael Franti + Spearhead – Everyone Deserves Music (for all the good people demonstratin this week!)

Sport or Art?

Only four more days and I’m moving back to my old apartment (pictured in the background of this blog). What’s more, I’m returning to the land of ADSL high speed net. I’ve enjoyed being, and will always be a Wi-Fi guy. But its moments like right now, where I could do without the clang-clang of bottles and loud Greek phoneconversations going on behind me. People also tend to come and sit with my while I’d working on my laptop, apparently this pose screams “come sit with me and ask for emotional counseling.” Of course I love chatting with anyone and everyone, so I’m as much to blame. I just want my privacy back and wi-fi does not afford enough of it.

My quote of the week comes from my darling Blondy But Brilliant, phone rings this morning and the highlight of the conversation went like this:

BM: “So how was the rest of the party last night?”

BBB: “Oh it was… yeah.. fun.. we went to the Brazilian bar after.”

BM: “Oh.. wednesday night.. thats salsa night!” (remembering my former career as a salsa dancer)

BBB: “Yeah? uhhh Maybe thats what I was dancing.”

That for me says it all… it’s going to be one FUN September around here.

Onto more important issues, prior to the festivities the conversation was about blog ethics. The whole idea that by blogging you might get in trouble for some of your opinions, especially in terms of career, if a potential employer doesn’t like your blog. I remember when the Sarcastic Journalist was fired for her blog. (plenty of others too.) Basically our conclusion was simple, we blog from the heart as well as the brain, and we’ve no intention to censor ourselves, no matter what the risk. Of course blogging could be a risk, just like speaking up for yourself can be. But we’re quite aware of that, and I suspect we enjoy the danger. On the contrary, self-censoring our blogs would be fucking awful.

The Dean of the international school came up to me recently and said the following:

“Hey… over the weekend I browsed through your blog, and I must say – I enjoyed it.”

Could this mean I’m getting big in the international education world? Deans of the world get ready! Either way, big thanks for that compliment sir.

Oh I need some company.. someone to come see Taking Back Sunday and Coheed and Cambria with me at the Melkweg on Sunday. Actually I’m not as excited to see them as I am to see my boy Fej who’s tour managing for them. My childhood bud from waaaaay back.. coming to Amsterdam. Yeeehaw.

Today’s Music: Taking Back Sunday – (Cause they’re arriving Sunday in NL)

Korean-American Slapstick

Any day now an academic gold nugget is going to fly out of my brain relating to blogs, personal publishing, and power-relations. That nugget will lead me on my renewed quest for PhD, and any egghead that stands in my way will feel the wrath of my passive-aggressive internet hatred. Now I just need a supervisor and a university, any takers out there, please comment below. My primary desire is to stay in fair Amsterdam, but if you’re persuasive.. I am not averse to being persueded. Also I don’t have much in terms of morals, so if you’d like to tempt me with material things, I’m listening.

One skill I know I have, and would venture to say many out there have is diplomacy. Defined by that midget webster’s dictionary:

Main Entry: di?plo?ma?cy

Pronunciation: d&-‘plO-m&-sE

Function: noun

1 : the art and practice of conducting negotiations between nations

2 : skill in handling affairs without arousing hostility : TACT

I’m referring specifically to definition two when I point out two comedians that have absolutely no diplomacy skills and somehow that is their job: GW Bush and Kim Jong-Il. This morning’s FT described a little catfight of words these two have been having:

-W Bush: “He’s a tyrant!” (referring to the N. Korean Leader)

-Jong-Il: “He’s a imbecile,an idiot and a man-killer.” (Referring to Bush)

-Bush once said he “loathed” Jong-Il.

-Jong-Il responded recently that Bush is “a political imbecile bereft of even elementary morality as a human being and a bad guy.”

These are world leaders? Neither elected, it’s worth noting. And furthermore both heirs to their fathers’ political dynasties. No wonder they have such a special way to speak to each other. But nevermind all that, it should be a basic job requirement: Don’t be an insulting bastard towards other leaders. Clearly they both absolutely suck at being diplomats, but maaaan are they entertaining.

Tom Tomorrow’s guestblogger type-person – Bob Harris- testifies to exactly one of the side-effects of having such unqualified leaders. Apparently Bob is in Olympiakos land and he’s been watching undercover as a New Zealander. I love a country who’s team colors are all-black. They even call the rugby team the “all-blacks.” But I digress, Bob had heard lots of boo’s for the US and blogs about the negative receptions US folk are getting in Athens and the possible reasons behind it.

Today’s Music: Frou Frou – Details