Before I Forget...

Happy Birthday noonee!!! You're the bestest friend in the whole wide world! Let's party on as if you were still 24!!:-D

It's Raining.

And raining. And raining. Have I mentioned that it's raining? In case you're wondering, no, I didn't get my money's worth this summer with my Badi-Abo. By the way, it's raining. Oh, have you noticed? It's raining. It really, really is.

TMI (Too Much Information)

The swiss department for alcohol- and other substance abuse problems' current campaign is interesting. The various posters say "My friend/brother/mother/son/etc. is an alcoholic. Let's talk about it!"

First of all, I had no idea Zach Braff's (of "Scrubs" fame) BFF (best friend forever) was an alcoholic. Dude, I'm so sorry! But I guess it's probably a pretty common problem in Hollywood.

While sure, I'd totally talk to Zach Braff about anything - he's famous! - I don't quite feel the same way about the people in the other posters. What are they suggesting? They sit next to me on the bus on my way to work and then tell me: "hey, I don't know you, but did you know my dad's an alcoholic?". Wtf?

Update: For those of you who don't believe this campaign features Zach, here's his imdb-picture:

BusyBusyBusy

Proof-reading a friend's diploma paper (60+ pages), helping out in accounting at a friend's computer store, teaching 10 lessons a week (and preparing them), starting to study for my last exam in September and finally having to get into gear for my Master's Thesis - always nice to know I'm not gonna get bored any time soon;-). Sleep? Who needs sleep?

Hallelujah!

My nephew Lars was baptized on Sunday, which I guess means he is now officially a member of the Christian community. I doubt he cares much at this point (he turned 1 in July and come on, look at that picture), but for the rest of us it's as good an excuse as any to get the whole family together and drink lots of wine along with lots of good food.

As for the church part, I'm gonna have to side with Eddie Izzard: "There's something phenomenally dreary about Christian singing". Also, I believe that Catholics believe in the teachings of Cathol and that a lot of them have read the Gospel according to St. Bastard.


'Nough said.

Pics are here.

Skype Is Not Indestructible

Those desperate screams you heard around the globe all day? Those were coming from people whose lives have lost all meaning businesses have lost all business today due to a major Skype outage.

Out of my list of places where I don't want to be right now: working at Skype Headquarters.

Bad Luck Sucks

Maybe it's just because I'm not used to it, but I'm really getting unsettled by this apparent streak of bad luck I've been having.

My nephew's present gets lost in the mail.

I lose my wallet in Budapest, thankfully only parting with about 20.- Swiss Francs in Forints and a Maestro card.

The one time I take the train back home from Budapest it has to take a detour through Germany and the trip takes effin' 12 hours and then part of the train loses power so there's no lights (a blessing, actually, because I finally could sleep a little), no air conditioning (not such a blessing when the train's full and there's no air), the toilet doesn't flush and the doors won't open.

I accidentally take my friend's car keys with me, discover it really late, have to send it back within 24 hours with DHL which costs a shitload of money and then they don't even manage to deliver it on time because they get held up at customs and then they want more money and I'm pissed 'cause it was all their fault, but luckily (ha! I did have some good luck!) my Hungarian friend talks them out of that BS.

None of the other teachers at the school where I teach manage to tell me that the syllabus they gave me won't be enough to fill the lessons and that I need lots and lots of additional material (which they of course didn't offer), resulting in me going through the course book in record time, at a rate where I'll finish the material for the whole semester by October. That can't be good.

See? Bad luck. Mixed in with mine and others' incompetence. Me decidedly not likey.

Update: I just realized what never fails to cheer me up: Spider Pig!

Yes, There Is Photographic Evidence

Go here.

Sziget Inside Jokes

• Shut the fuck up Donnie, you're out of your element!
  
  
• Neuken in de keuken
  
  
• She sells sea shells by the sea shore
  
  
• Bom Chicka Wah Wah!
  
  
• Day Zero!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  
  
• Spider Pig, Spider Pig...
  
  
• "I don't give a fuck, not a single fuck, not a single solitary fuck, 'cause I don't give a fuck, motherfucker" --- directed at the pouring, pouring rain Friday night

Sziget Is Exhausting

It's Day 4 of the Sziget Festival in Budapest (well, technically Day 3 since there the first day was called Day Zero, but whatever) and I have to admit, I'm starting to get a little rough 'round the edges.

So far I've seen two entire concerts, Manu Chao and Chemical Brothers, which were both great, and each night we drank inappropriate amounts of beer or boros kóla (red wine with Coke), depending on everyone's preference. Abstaining from hard alcohol has so far prevented me from getting hangovers, but the lack of sleep is taking its toll anyway.

At least I get to go home to my Hungarian friend Viktor's place every day, shower, get a proper meal from his mum and sleep a couple more hours in a real bed.

Although I think it's a shame I can't stay until the end of the festival (school starts next week and I'm teaching my first classes on Wednesday), I'm not sure I could take 4 more days...Again, I'm getting old, but maybe that's not such a bad thing.

Get A (First) Life

Heh. I've never had anything to do with Second Life, but admittedly the Internet and all its marvels kind of are a big part of my life - first, second and further iterations. I wonder what would happen if I went offline for a couple of weeks...Would I stop to smell the flowers? Would I suddenly find myself on this amazing career track I never thought possible? Would I fall in love? I guess we'll never know...;-)

Rundfunk.fm

Rundfunk.fm is an annual sort of cultural/DJ-festival with its own radio station broadcasting live from the Landesmuseum in Zurich. Friday was the grand opening of the bars and the "circus tent" (also at the Landesmuseum) and I attended with some friends. Unfortunately they had to shut it down by midnight so we went to another bar for the remainder of the night.

The Rundfunk.fm-festival will continue until September 1st and I think it's a nice after - work- drinks alternative if you're into that sort of thing.

1. August

The Swiss National Holiday was fun this year! I spent it with friends in Zurich, sleeping in, then going for brunch, swimming in the lake and then having a BBQ and watching the fireworks on a friends' roof terrace. This is how the Rütlischwur folks would've wanted us to spend this day, I'm sure.

How To Make Yourself Believe You're Cool

Do what I did last Tuesday: attend an illegal party in a forest on a hill, dance to electronic music while talking politics with a random swiss dude who now lives in NYC and then witness the party being shut down by the police at 1.30h. I felt so venturous!