sic transit gloria

we now drink more, do more drugs, live more promiscuously, spend more money, use up more resources, create more waste, and deliberately flaunt our wealth, power and sexuality more than any other culture on earth.
when a modest, pious man living in a poor village a world away looks at us, what does he see?

while 79% of university entrants in 1970 said their goal in life was to develop "a meaningful philosophy of life," by 2005, 75% defined their life's objective as "being very well off financially." what happened?

we kill ourselves slowly, by eating too much or too little, becoming fat, or anorexic, or diabetic. physically and psychologically we whither away in our culture of collective self-absorption and material sloth. and our boundless, insatiable greed now threatens to drag the entire planet down with us.
meanwhile, in our eyes, the islamist suicide bomber has come to epitomize "the terrorist", a modern savage, a psychopathic degenerate utterly disconnected from any redeeming social or moral values. yet, in fact, this "other" is a man whose life revolves around the mosque, daily prayer, restrained dress, modest fasting, a tight-knit family and community. When pushed to the limit, a committed muslim may decide to sacrifice his own life, his own body for what he sees as a greater social and spiritual good. which one of us in the west will do this now?
this is the existential divide.

sadly, racism is very much still alive

 

1. Dwight Schrute: Someone forged medical information, and that's a felony.  

    Jim Halpert: OK, Whoa, all right 'cause that's a pretty intense accusation. How do you know that they're fake? 
    Dwight Schrute: [reading from a sheet] Uh, Leprosy, Flesh Eating Bacteria, Hot Dog Fingers, Government Created Killer Nano Robot

    Infection.

2. Micheal Scott: This, is an environment of welcoming, and you should just get the hell out of here.

 

3. Dwight Schrute: Yes, I have acted before. I was in a production of Oklahoma in the seventh grade. I played the part of Mutey, the

    mailman.  They had too many kids so they made up roles like that... I was good.

 
4. Michael Scott: I am Michael, and I am part English, Irish, German, and Scottish, sort of a virtual United Nations.

 

5. Michael Scott: Last week I would've given a kidney to anyone in this office. I would've reached right into my stomach and pulled it 

    out for them. But now, no. I don't have the relationship with these people that I thought I did. I hope they ask, so they can hear me say,

   "Uh, no, I only give my organs to my real friends. Go get yourself a monkey kidney."

1. Open up your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc.)

2. Put it on shuffle

3. Press play

4. For every question, type the song that's playing

5. When you go to a new question, press the next button

6. No repeat artists...shit happens (randomly!!)

7. No cheating or doctoring your list to make yourself look cooler than the person you took this from, you selfish bastard.

 

Opening Credits:

"Jesus Walks" - Kanye West

 

First Day of School:

"Enthused" - Blink 182

 

Falling in Love:

"Too Big to Crowd Surf" - Half Way Out

 

Breaking Up:

"Study Humans" - MXPX

 

Prom:

"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" - The Temptations

 

Sex Scene:

"Under a Killing Moon" - Thrice

 

Life's OK:

"Break my Fall" - Plankeye

 

Mental Breakdown:

"Like a Prayer" - Rufio

 

Driving:

"Avondale" - Yellowcard

 

Flashback:

"The Sound of Settling" - Death Cab for Cutie

 

Getting Back Together:

"Sic Transit Gloria" - Brand New

 

Birth of Child:

"Only Ashes" - Something Corporate

 

Wedding Scene:

"Misfits" - Third Eye Blind

 

Final Battle:

"Emenius Sleepus" - Green Day

 

Death Scene:

"Hotel Room" - Mest

 

Funeral Scene:

"Dressed to Kill" - New Found Glory

 

End Credits:

"Freakish" - Saves the Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hate jet lag as much as I hate Che Guevara merchandise and church billboards with trendy messages. Got into BC last night at about 23:15, (I got used to the 24 Hour clock) which translates to 8:15 AM Western European time. I stayed awake until 4 AM, forced myself to sleep and woke up again at 7:30.

 

When one returns from a trip for any length of time, there are always the general ice-breaking questions that people ask, even from closest friends. Questions like, "Where exactly did you go?", "What was your favourite place?", "Did you meet lots of people?", "Did you see (enter in famous building)?", "Did you like it?", "Would you ever go back?", etc. In my opinion however, when people ask, "How was your flight?", do they not realize that they are asking the most uninteresting question in the world? It is right up there with "How was the weather?" What kind of details do they want, like a daily report? Like I said before, I think these types of questions are mainly for breaking the ice between friends who reuniting again after a time of being apart. And also, they are courteous questions to ask, but can people honestly tell me that they genuinely care about the flight?

 

And also, as a disclaimer, I just got back last night, and no one has actually asked me this question. It was just something I was thinking about when I was on the plane, like what kind of questions I would get when I come home. But honestly, I have to say I do welcome all questions, even the ones I mentioned above, because I know that people like to be polite, but they really are uninteresting questions. Come on, am I the only one who actually thinks this? And to my closer friends, I expect you to be more creative!

 

And just to let you know:

1. There was turbulence. I watched The Departed. I slept.

2. It was nice weather all the time in the month of December. Rained only 4 days. Once in Paris. Once in Barcelona. Once in Rome. Once in Amsterdam.

 

Do you want any more details?