Apsishik aukshtielninkas



Probably the most useful site on "the net"

some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue

Vs.



Great article about the US vs. the UK versions of The Office

Spinnin'


Not much to post about, so here is a list of albums I'm currently rockin':

New stuff:







Not as new:




P.S. Does anyone know where I can buy a ground cable for one of these?

Sometimes...scratch that...many times I don't get pitchforkmedia.com quality standards



So they dis the finches for using ear friendly chord progressions yet basically perform fellatio on Hot Chip for making a dance mix album (songs from other artists).

OK OK OK aldready...



The comments on code monkey are blowin up these days: "Leon write more about your trip to Germany....blah...blah...blah". One of the resons I haven't written much is because of my "incident".

What time is the best time to go to the dentists?




"tooth-hurty"

Pipas made it to town (pictured above with Ira)!

The weekend was so sweet that my remaining lower wisdom tooth became infected and needs to be pulled (happening Thursday).

And just to clarify things: Smiller accused me of bringing that terrible beer to G-ball's party. It isn't true! Don't blame me for your hangover!!!!! If you need to file a police report on the person who did, I can find out that information for you. It was a crime against humanity, I tell ya....but it was funny seeing everybody dive for that beer after Scott's announcement.

Show Packed Weekend!!!!



Friday:
The 4 eyes and the Pizzas are playing at the distillery Friday night.

The show that three people won't stop talking about:
Sat, 5/19
Cheveu(France) &Tyvek(MI)/NothingPeople/Nice Smile
@
DAM House, 503 E Street in Davis
7:00, $donation

And Sunday!
Record Club! with:
Pipas
The Land of Ill Earthquakes
Baby Grand
Buildings Breeding
@
The Press Club
4:00pm!!! $5
early show!!!

Tschüs!



It's 3:30 am here in Germany. My plan is to stay up all night so I can have a head start on the time readjustment...you know.. cuz it'll be mother's day when I get back and all. Hopefully my boss will give me Monday off.

I want to go back here sometime and take a real vacation, but I had to see as much as I could in the time permitted. I need to come back!

I ate a lot of cheese here.

Highlights from my one day of sight seeing (Technically yesterday):

Hitting 118 mph on the autobahn!
I got freaked out after a while at that speed, but since traffic was still moving in front and behind, the feeling eventually morphed into a pure adrenaline rush. There was some crazy German song about "Skoobidoo" blasting on the radio at the time. I need to figure out what it was.

Tübingen (as pictured above), was one of the prettiest towns I've ever been to. It's existed for around for 2000 years and was untouched by the WWII bombings. There was an awesome farmers market going on while I was there and I picked up some schwäbische noodles so I can make (try to make) Käsespätzle when I get back. I should make it soon while my memory of how it's supposed to taste is fresh in my mind. The place was packed with little bakeries filled with warm, fresh breads and pastries. There was a neat little river going through the middle of town. Definitely a place I want to go back to.

On the way to Freiburg, I stopped in a little lake-side town in the Black Forrest called Titisee. It was small, nice, and I found a place that carried Rothaus beers on tap, and it happened to be lunch time! Titisee is where I did the majority of my knick-knack shopping.

Freiburg was pretty cool. Mainly a shopping area. It was fun to walk around and see some of the street performers (a lot of accordion players ;). They had trolley cars going all over the place.

The bad:

Stupid navigation system had me making some funky ass turns all over the place. At one point, it told me that the road I was driving on didn't exist. I think I broke multiple traffic laws en route to my destinations, but I got there, and I'm alive, so it's OK. Just don't make me late for my flight, stupid car!

They only have white dashed lines on the road, whether it's a one or two ways street. I almost learned the hard way (by narrowly escaping a head-on collision)

I never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually tired of beer. Multiple litres of beer for at least 4 nights strait did the job for me. I'll be drinking Martinis for the next few days instead.


That's it. I need some Mexican food in a bad way right now. I need to see my wife and kid. I'm dreading the flight home.


I worked while I was here, but I won't go into that (not much any readers here would be interested in)

See you all next week!

Böblingen!!!



Just a few hours after I arrived at my hotel in Böblingen it started raining..so I figured I'd kill some time online until the brauhaus down the street opens up.

The flight was actually one of the more pleasant international flights I've taken. Last time I flew with Lufthansa air, and they plied be with enough alcohol to forget I was packed like a sardine on their jet.

This time I flew Delta, who were stingy with the booze, but I actually had plenty of room to stretch my legs. It still didn't prevent my ass from hurting like a mo-fo during the home stretch of the flight.

Anyhoo.. See that C-class Mercedes Benz out there on the street? Yep, that's my rental car! I could either pay 10 bucks more a day for a nav system with my existing compact car, or upgrade to this car with a built in navigation system for the same weekly rate...duh!

It was my first time using one of those things, and I have a feeling the navigation system took me on the scenic rout. I don't think the standard trip to the hotel from the airport should involve getting on and off the Autobahn multiple times, going down some cobblestone ally, going through some nice countryside, making a U turn at the end of the street. I did start talking to my onboard computer lady "prepare to turn left in 400 meters" "OK..you got it" "turn left now" "OK OK whatever you say!" It seemed like I was going in circles, but I did eventually get to my destination. Hilarious.

I'm staying at the Hotel Böhler in the downtown area. People at work kept saying "Oh yeah..that place is sooooooooooooo German!!!" I wasn't sure what they were talking about, until I stepped inside, had to carry my bags up a flight of stairs to the tiny reception desk, where this older German guy was waiting for me with a smile. Once I got my room key, he showed me that they actually do have an elevator. You have to open this super tiny door and the elevator itself is literally a tube not much wider than one suitcase and one person. I thought it was just for the bags, but the guy insisted I ride up while he ran up the stairs to meet me. I guess you wouldn't find anything like it at a Hyatt or Holiday Inn, so maybe that's what people are talking about. Looks like they have an awesome breakfast that I’m sure to get well acquainted with.

After I took a shower, I quickly made my way outside in search for food. Kabob places are huge in Germany, and I found one right away, so that's where I ate. The place I found actually makes the pocket bread right then and there when you order you food! The veggie kabob I ordered was packed with veggies and feta cheese. It was soo good!

I walked around looking for a market or something, but most stores seemed to be closed. Sunday will be even worse. They take their day of rest seriously around here.

Nothing in particular.




So yesterday my work laptop's hard drive decided to die on me. I'm currently at my desk waiting for the IT guy to come by and replace it. I managed to get my computer up and running for the moment, but a lame laptop is the last thing I need right now.

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Last night at band practice someone opened up a "can of worms". Luckily no one was injured...physically. I'm starting to feel guilty about being such a lazy slouch in the band, but I figure as long as I always show up, and on time, and contribute to the beer fund now and then, I'm still in good standing. I just need to get my own bass amp.