Waga mia!

Chris and Beth introduced me to a popular UK restaurant chain, wagamama, which is essentially what Noodles and Co. would be if it were run by master chefs. Beth tells me that the Bloomsbury location is the original, but I see that there are now well over fifty locations in the United Kingdom alone. Service was casual and prompt, and the food was delicious. I had ginger chicken udon (44) with a side of grilled asparagus (106), and was too full for dessert, which is good when I consider how much the meal cost in US dollars.

Home sweet home

Beth, Chris, Mary, Casey, and I have a new address. It is:

Flat 3
Wendover Court
Chiltern Street
London
W1U 7NN
United Kingdom

Please address all packages of biscuits here.

Still homeless

We spent about twelve hours searching for a flat today, but nothing seemed quite right. We know our budget is suitable for what we seek, but the number of flats with the right location, configuration, and (primarily) lease duration are few. We'll pick up the hunt again tomorrow. For now, we're headed out to find a pub that's open past eleven.

H2O, miracle drug

This was on my bottle of Suio sparkling water:

BENEFICIAL PROPERTIES*

• Helps the function of the liver
• Microbiologically pure
• Stimulates digestion
• Purifies internal systems

*APPROVED BY THE ITALIAN MINISTRY OF HEALTH

I'm left wondering about all the other organs: Are they somehow less dependent on water than the liver?

We're off to find housing!

The program begins

The Syracuse program began officially for me today. The remaining students arrived this morning, and I was issued my orange binder of information. We had the weekend off, so Chris and I scouted out an apartment that I thought held promise. We did indeed like it, but there were two setbacks that, when added together, proved to be more trouble than the place was worth. Our quest will continue tomorrow.

We had dinner in a banquet room in the hotel, and afterwards took a field trip with all of Syracuse University London to the British Airways London Eye. Feeling like we were being herded around a little too much, we set off for a distant part of town to meet our old classmate Nico. He and some friends were lounging on some nice leather couches in a cool little bar called Jaguar Shoes (or perhaps Dream Bags Jaguar Shoes). I had a great time talking to Gustav, who is from Lund, Sweden, where I spent time visiting Marget in 2004.

One-sided

This evening I felt that I had to make an effort to experience Europe's funkiest hostel at its prime and take in a bit of the night life. The bar turned out to be pretty dull, everyone bunched up by dorm room and guys and girls separated as if it were a middle school dance. (I've come to realize that nearly all the girls opt for "female only" rooms, so all the "co-ed" rooms are filled with only guys.) Given that, I ended up running into my roommates, who in the capacity of good Samaritans helping girls with their baggage had managed to meet some new people who were of the opposite sex. Talking with the newfound acquaintances, I somehow managed to be challenged to name as many African countries in five minutes as I could and wagered a drink that I could name more than the girl who challenged me. As it turned out, she disappeared without going through with it, but I made a list anyway, if only to honor Mr. Beckman's seventh grade social studies class.

• Togo
• Benin
• Cameroon
• Ivory Coast
• West Sahara
• Morocco
• Lybia
• Liberia
• Mali
• Tunisia
• Egypt
• Nigeria
• Chad
• Kenya
• Republic of Congo
• Democratic Republic of Congo
• South Africa
• Zimbabwe
• Swaziland
• Somalia

I'm not sure if 20 out of 46 "honors" Mr. Beckman's class, but I'd wager I did better than most Americans (and certainly our president, who referred to Africa as a country itself).

Arrival

I made it to London in one piece and in a reasonably good state of mind, given the time difference. My flights were more or less on time, and the in-flight movies were familiar and likable (Mission: Impossible and Ferris Bueller's Day Off). I slept a couple of hours between Minneapolis and Reykjavik, and I've limited myself to 45 minutes since, so I'm hoping to beat the jetlag in a single night. Heathrow wasn't too bad; finding the right line for immigration was the only trick. Getting to the Underground wasn't too bad either, although finding the right kind of machine to sell me a ticket was a little more frustrating than it should have been. In the end, I managed to get my own ticket and get on the right train while helping a young lawyer from Philadelphia do the same and assuring three Russians that they were in the right place to take a train to Earl's Square.

The train ride was long and hot, both in part because of the overly crammed cars, the latter also in part due to the rather warm weather. I am very glad I kept my summer attire for the trip. I arrived at the Generator ("Europe's Funkiest Hostels!") after some wandering, some map reading, and some navigation by sun position. I ended up with a four-person room instead of the six- I thought I was getting, so that was a welcome surprise. I also snagged a top bunk, so I'm happy about that. I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get the room mates that the website suggested I'd get ("hot blonde," "rather hungover 'hardman' winner," "hot blonde's mate"), but I've been pleased to make the acquaintances of Michael and John, recent college grads from Austen, Tejas, roaming the world before the settle into the nine-to-five routine. We think the forth sleeper, who has the bunk below mine is Czech, but we've yet to meet him.

I'm taking it easy this evening, forgoing travel on the Underground and probably even travel to anywhere but downstairs. I do plan on hitting the first floor bar soon though: I've got a free drink coming to me during my first happy hour, and I wouldn't want to miss that.

Summer 2007 recap

So, what was I doing all this time?

I kept to a reading list of only female authors:

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
Rebecca by Daphene Daphne du Maurier
The Blind Assassin by Margeret Atwood
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Ms. du Maurier's and Ms. Rowling's books are the most recommendable. Other than the awkwardly extraneous epilogue, Deathly Hallows is a truly remarkable conclusion to the Harry Potter series. While much has been said about the book's look at mortality, I am increasingly impressed by it's politics. I can think of no other book that better illustrates the mechanisms that install tyrannical regimes to power. Parallels between the Death Eaters and the Nazi party are frighteningly elegant.

I also picked up a few new albums:

Sky Blue Sky by Wilco
Era Vulgaris by Queens of the Stone Age
Zeitgeist by [The] Smashing Pumpkins
Live at Radio City with Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds

Era Vulgaris is the probably the most interesting of the lot, and chasing down all the lovely B-Sides is worth it as well.

I saw a few movies in theater as well:

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Oceans Thirteen
Spider-Man 3
Paris, je t'aime
Ratatouille
Transformers
Rescue Dawn
The Simpsons Movie
Stardust
The Bourne Supremacy

World's End was the best surprise. Not only did I like it more than Dead Man's Chest, it made me like that installment better than I had. Ratatouille was easily the best of the lot.

The site I'm building for Professor Anne Munly is complete for most practical purposes. You can visit it at http://soa.syr.edu/dwelling.

And I got a tattoo! Oh, I guess it was just marker. I think Claire did an excellent job on it though, and I think behind the sniggers, the other lifeguards were secretly envious.

A dialogue

Journey with me, if you will, to a sunny beach, where I am climbing to the top of a lifeguard stand to replace a co-worker. Generic greetings are exchanged, and then a conversation unfolds:

Guard: So when do you leave for Syracuse?
James: I won't be going back to New York until January since I'm going to be in London this semester.
Guard: That's right. So do you speak French well?
James: Uh, no. I took Spanish in school.
Guard: I suppose lots of people speak English anyway.
[long pause]
James: Yeah.
[The guard begins to climb down from the chair]
James: Where exactly do you think London is?
[The guard freezes.]
Guard: Uhhhh, it's not in France?
James: London is the capital of England.
Guard: Oh. They speak English there. What was I thinking of?
James: Paris?
Guard: Paris!

Anyway, I'm going to London soon. I'll be posting more often, I hope.

The 'the' in 'The Smashing Pumpkins'

I just saw the cover for the forthcoming album from The Smashing Pumpkins, and I noticed that the 'the' which first appeared on the epic Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness has disappeared once again.  I'm left puzzling its significance.  Is this a nod to the band's rebirth?  Will the less pretentious 'Smashing Pumpkins' stay in use until Billy feels that the new incarnation of the band has released its own magnum opus?

If you see anybody else's musings on the matter, please post a link to it here in the comments.

Running from the sound of a gun

I was walking to the Warehouse Sunday morning, and I saw that Fayette, my road of travel, was barricaded at both Salina and Clinton, but as the sidewalks were clear, I was able to continue on as normal.  I was expecting to see construction (as is often the case on weekend mornings), but I only found a few middle-aged women in purple shirts as I crossed Salina.  As I was about halfway between the streets, I heard a not-too-distant bang! and the sound of a crowd that had been silent moments before.  I realized that I must be in close proximity to the start of a race, and I thought about making a dash for the other side of Clinton, but I figured there might be cameras, and I had a 50-50 chance that the runners would be crossing behind me instead of before me.  As it was, the runners were in my way, but there were, in fact, plenty of cameras that I'm happy did not catch me crossing foolishly.  So I had to hold up for five minutes as the river of runners flowed past.

It proved to be an interesting populace to watch, as they were still sorted by ambition rather than speed and endurance.  The leaders were in sleek spandex suits, and they were followed closely by runners in shiny running shorts and athletic shirts and sports bras.  Behind them were a large crowd in t-shirts and track pants.  Here the number of iPods began increasing sharply.  Runners in sweatpants and sometimes in sweatshirts followed, and a number of goofy hats could be seen.  Lastly came a few older women, dressed in black, being followed closely by the ambulance.

He's…dead?

White-On-White Violence Claims Life Of Accounts Receivable Supervisor

POYNETTE, WI—Foul play is suspected in the death of an accounts receivable supervisor for a regional office-supply company, sheriff's...

He's back!

One of my favorite columnists at America's Finest News Source has been MIA for the better part of two years, but now Herbert Kornfeld has come roaring back with the latest from Midwest Office Supply:

It Wuz Always 'Bout Tha Numbahs

Sleepless hours and dreamless nights and far aways / Ooo ooo ooo, wishing you were here. —Chicago, "Wishing You Were Here"...

The 4-20 solution

Apparently foreign students in Moscow are being holed up in their dormitories for protection from neo-Nazis and other xenophobic crowds who become violent around Hitler's birthday. Call me crazy, but I like the American version of 4-20 a whole lot better. It's too bad we can't just gather up a shipload of confiscated grass and send it over to Moscow and distribute it on the campuses. Things might calm down just a bit...

Year -0015/0026/0044 begins...now

Year Zero is on sale here in the U.S.A.!  Yay, Trent!
My parents have been married 25 years!  Yay, Mom and Dad!
The man behind Puscifer and Tool is 43!  Yay, Maynard!

Saving the best for last

Alex, Alice, William, and I just returned from Grindhouse, the new Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino double feature.  I notice that most of the reviews are marginally favorable and select one of the two features as the letdown—the reason for two-and-a-half stars instead of three-and-a-half stars.  Colin Covert, writing for my hometown newspaper, the Star Tribune, certainly favored Rodriguez's "Planet Terror," but I'll readily join the side of A.O. Scott and Richard Roeper, both of whom favored Tarantino's "Death Proof."  I think the Kurt Russel slasher film would have been entirely enjoyable had I not been restless from sitting in a theater for an hour and half by the time it arrived.   I still enjoyed the flick, but it was just barely sufficient as a reward for sitting though the tedious "Planet Terror."  I'd recommend waiting for the DVD, watching "Death Proof," and then giving "Planet Terror" a try if you're hungry for more.  And don't miss the four fake trailers.  I was disappointed that "Cowgirls in Sweden" didn't make the final cut, but enjoyed the rapid-fire pacing of the trailers I did see.  My favorite trailer was probably that for Eli Roth's Thanksgiving, which was disturbing to the point that I'm sure I would not want to see the movie (were it to be made) but allowed me to get a taste of the Hostel director's work without having to watch for more than two minutes.  (I've seen a few minutes of Hostel and did my best to stop watching is as quickly as I could.)  Rob Zombie's trailer for Werewolf Women of the S.S. didn't seem to have any potential beyond its ingenious title, and the trailer for Machete was perhaps spoiled by the fact that half of its footage was used in the trailers to Grindhouse itself, but at a couple minutes a piece, they certainly didn't do any harm to the jammed-packed spectacle that is Grindhouse.

SDRAM sadness

I finally got up the motivation to re-set my second gig of RAM in my laptop, which I removed when I sent the Alien in for servicing. After checking with two of my neighbors for Phillips screwdrivers, I finally got the card installed, only to find that its presence prevented the computer for booting. Close inspection under a bright light revealed a hairline crack in one of the eight integrated circuits, which seems to be enough to ruin the whole SO-DIMM. I've had to take it out a number of times, but this was the first time that I had to travel with it outside of my computer, and apparently my precautions were insufficient. This saddens me not only because of the inconvenience, but also because the SO-DIMM was a rather generous and timely Christmas gift from my parents in 2005.

+6¢

The details seem a bit sketchy still, but it looks like my last one or two letters to Claire are going to cost an additional six cents to send to Spain, up from the 84¢ I'm paying now. (New rates are going into effect on 14 May.)

Bravery

It's Saint Patrick's day, and downtown Syracuse has been awash with alcohol and drunks since the parade ended around 1 o'clock. I walked home for dinner at 6:00, and if I were to guess, I'd say that 3 out of 4 pedestrians and 1 out of 4 drivers was seriously toasted. To make matters worse, it's been snowing lightly for the last day or so, and the driving conditions are less than ideal.

I started to cross Clinton Street when I got the white walking-man light, and about a third of the way across I noticed that the car approaching me from the left (in the center lane of a one-way street) wasn't showing signs of slowing down. My mind was elsewhere, so after missing a half-stride to confirm that I had the right-of-way, I kept on walking, and the car slammed on its breaks, sliding through the slush to a halt a few feet past the stop line, and a few feet closer to me that I would have liked. I finished crossing and realized that I'd had an audience on the other side. One guy said to me, "You've got balls! You've got balls of steel!" and then he turned and announced to all present, "This guy's got balls of steel!"

Sitting on the dancefloor

Dad and I went to the Year Zero listening party at Varsity Theater in Dinkytown on Tuesday evening, where we got to hear the new Nine Inch Nails album a little over a month before its release.  We spotted the venue easily, since it was marked with a long cue of college-aged kids dressed predominantly in black.  Dad and I did not fit in at all, as I was wearing a tan shirt and (non-baggy) blue jeans and Dad was wearing a grey hoodie.  We found that the "theater" was more of a club, with a small stage, a bar in back, and seating around a sizable dance floor.  We sat down soon enough to snag an edge of the risers, but those after us were left with the dance floor.  The evening started with a video, and the rather subdued crowd quickly sat down on the floor to ensure those behind them a view, so the floor was soon filled with moody-looking college students sitting cross-legged for the whole event.

The album seemed good.  It definitely started fast and grew slower, almost with each song, and the slower songs were more difficult to judge since the sound system didn't deliver very good mid-range frequencies.  Songs that I've heard on the internet like "Me, I'm Not," didn't sound as good, so I can only expect that the unfamiliar songs were being given less than flattering treatment as well.  Dad and I both thought that "Vessel" and "God Given" have great potential.  We left just as "Zero-Sum" was finishing, so I didn't get a very good feeling for the general response, but I'm guessing that enthusiasm peaked before the series of consecutive quieter tracks finished the album.