Ramblings for the Morning (03/8/06)

Ah the quiet of Saturday morning. My wife is asleep, my cats are off eating, and I can sit here and write for a little bit.
Ok, here we go.
So, without further ado: FOUR LEGS GOOD, TWO LEGS BAD!
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Killer Food:
My sister sent me this story. The gist is that a national symbol of Sweden, disgusting as it may be, has been BANNED from plane flights. The reasoning? Well, it's two-fold:
1. It's in a can, which, under pressure, could explode (Look out, Tuna, you're NEXT!!!!)
2. The other, and to me more viable reason, is the smell. Apparently it is one of the worst smells ever in the recorded history of humanity. Take rotten fish. Good, your nose already hurts, right? Now, put it in the sun for say... a month. Now, can it and then serve it. Yum-O (as Rachael Ray would say)!
Still, the part I'm going to be curious about is the Swedish retort. They say banning the fish is, "culturally illiterate." We, in America, have allowed many things because of the cultural heritage or meaning. Will Sweden bend to pressure? Is anyone else shocked that there is a "Swedish Surstromming Academy" which promotes the fish? (Though I will admit they have a point about stinky cheese and Champagne....)
What does this academy look like? Is it a small shack on a lake where a bunch of Swedes gather, drink themselves silly, then eat the fish?
Not to beat a dead horse, but I also have this vision from The Deer Hunter of people around a table spinning a plate and getting the fish in front of them. As they steel themselves up to eat it, a man slaps them and yells, "MAO, DIDDY MAO!!!"
You have to love those crazy Swedes.
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They Shoot Bloggers, Don't They?:
What's happening to all the bloggers I read? Meridita? Left. Worm? Considering quitting. Sopheava? On hiatus. (I remember when they said Arrested Development was on hiatus...that's gone.) I don't want to even think about Slanderous (which I will NEVER remove...unless a court order comes in and says, "Remove it.") There are some still writing, but the ones I read everyday are starting to remove themselves back to real life. Sigh.
Luckily there's always the Gonerick Hotel caption contest. Go, have fun. I'm done venting about this now....
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Inside Man Review:
I went and saw Inside Man the other day. It wasn't bad. The acting is pretty good, so is seeing New York (a staple in Spike Lee films), but the story...well. Look, I love mysteries. This film has a good mystery, but when you hear the semi-twist in the first few minutes, you know right away who the "Inside Man" is. If I have a gripe about this film, it is the writing. Sometimes you can just hear the writers thinking as the film goes.
"Man...I'm tired. I've been writing this forever. Ok, I got nothing for an end, so.........Uh......Let's just have this happen, they'll meet, he'll do this...sure, that works. Ok, T.h.e. E.n.d. Great. Where's my money?"
Seriously, the script dies at the end of the movie. There's a false ending, and it just keeps going and going. Still, I liked the film, and I recommend it.
That being said, a guy I went to college with is in the movie, which was really strange to see. He was an actor and wanted to be professional, but the last I heard he had quit and started teaching English in St. Louis. His only other credit had been as an extra on That 70's Show. Now he's playing Redheaded Detective. Good job, Ken, you've got lines now. Keep up the good work, and you might equal Johnny and his stint on Scrubs.
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Moving...on a Friday Afternoon:
I helped a colleague of mine move yesterday. He called me because he NEEDED my truck. I never put a single thing in my car...it all fit in his rented moving truck. There were a few of us doing the work: Two other teachers and two of my colleagues kids.
It was...interesting.
We got everything done in three hours, which was great, but I was close to killing one of my colleagues. Here's a tip, boys and girls: You NEVER talk smack about a guy's wife when you have 1. never met her, and 2. are yourself single and thought to be gay by the world around you.
This guy crossed a line, and I called him on it. While the rest of us actually moved the furniture up and into the building, he stood in the truck and "organized" everything. Sure.
He got mad when we were in the elevator, and the gal who rode with us ignored him and talked to me.
He got upset when there was no beer.
But my absolute favorite was when he thought it would be funny to CRUSH me against a wall using a couch.
"Oh, look out Leab...wall." Then he shoves me and the couch as hard as he can into the wall. That move, which he did twice, snapped my sunglasses in half. IN HALF!! I loved those glasses, but they're toast now.
There's an old saying, "Too many chiefs, not enough indians." In our case it was, "Too much schmuck, not enough moving."
My colleague owes me big time now. I don't know if he'll ever pay, but he owes me.
And finally:
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End of the Line:
Spring Break sadly comes to an end on Monday. We have to return to school. I was enjoying the time off, and my wife told me that yesterday morning (before she left for work) that I was finally looking relaxed. It only took a week.
Have I missed the students? Some of them.
Am I looking forward to the next nine weeks? Some of them.
We start Romeo And Juliet on Monday. I will be curious to see how it goes. I need to get through that, The Odyssey, and some poetry in the next nine weeks. Teaching, don't fail me now!
Have a great weekend!
Namaste.
Oh, and here's a fun picture of a colleague of mine playing one of his first video games....Good stuff.