Omsk train station (Nov 21, 2004):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48245914@N00/6637294193/

A couple of random locals we met in Omsk - their English was pretty good, and they showed us a fantastic time (I'm on the right):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48245914@N00/6637293881

I was perusing my old videos and I saw this. It reminded me how we met. There was music... Da da de da... How could be a Canadian? It broke my heart.

In reply to this comment by SlipperyPete:
Yes, and?

In reply to this comment by MycroftHomlz:
http://videosift.com/video/Apparently-you-can-count-Slippery-Pete

On a side note... My wife and I are huge fans. We met George at a conference. Amazingly, there were only 20 people. We had breakfast with him a few times. We went to get our 1st ed. ASOIF books signed.

"ummm, ohhhhhhh! ohhhh, oh oh oh oh". The beaver equivalent of "Excuse me, haven't we met somewhere before? OH! errrr, sorry, I think I left something in the car".

I wonder if a Skunk is the equivalent of dude-looks-like-a-lady in Beaver society...

I don't have an education in IT, and neither am I extremely knowledgeable in programming and actual administrating, and yet I think I can relate, at least somewhat - I've dabbled in some types of languages and databases, and am on first-name terms with hardware and software in general, and as a result I have just wound up as an "IT Project Implementation Lead" in a nationalized bank (don't assume I'm loaded though - my monthly salary is 3 figures in USD). I like what I currently do and I like working in general, in part because every day is full of validation, since I've discovered that the majority of people, especially those in middle-management, are a terrible mix of incredibly lazy, incompetent and ineffective (i.e. I chose the second answer in the poll), so it's rather easy to stand out for your work-ethics. Anyway, thought you (and other IT folks) might enjoy this one, if you haven't heard it already:


A man is flying in a hot air balloon and realizes he is lost. He reduces altitude and spots a man down below. He lowers the balloon further and shouts: "Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?"

The man below says: "Yes, you're in a hot air balloon, hovering 30 feet above this field."

"You must work in Information Technology" says the balloonist.

"I do" replies the man. "How did you know?"

"Well" says the balloonist, "everything you have told me is technically correct, but it's of no use to anyone."

The man below says "You must work in business."

"I do" replies the balloonist, "but how did you know?"

"Well", says the man, "you don't know where you are, or where you're going, but you expect me to be able to help. You're in the same position you were before we met, but now it's my fault."

In reply to this comment by xxovercastxx:
I'm temporarily unemployed as I moved from NY to MO last month, but I went ahead and chose #2 since I'll be working again in a few weeks.

I've been in IT and Network Administration for 14 years now. I enjoy it so long as things are moving forward. The downside to IT is that you're almost always in a power struggle of sorts. The users hate the system and blame you for everything that goes wrong but they also fight you on everything you try to do to improve things. Management is also an issue as they rarely have any understanding of the decisions that IT faces, but they also tend to ignore the input you give them. The end result is that someone makes a decision with no knowledge of the situation and then you spend all your time putting out fires.

The one significant regret I have in my line of work is the lack of creativity. I like doing design, drawing, painting, photography, etc and there's almost no place for any of those skills in IT. I really always wanted to be a game designer, but could never find the road to take me there.

Is my sandwich ready?>> ^peggedbea:
there is no feminist conspiracy, i promise. and its not a matter of "getting off on it" it's a matter of broad generalizations about the way people are enculturated and things that are social occurrences. they just are.
and if you ask, you offer to pay. it's the same rule when i ask my female friends out to lunch; i ask, i offer to pay.
i have a really good friend, we met like 9 years ago and dated briefly. he even did the "open the car door thing" and i thought it was way over the top and he was trying way too hard, but something about it seemed oddly sincere so i didn't bust his balls for it right away. but 9 years later and all romantic interest crushed dead, he still opens my car doors and usually pays when go out, even for my kids, except for the times he's been unemployed and i paid for everything, or in cases where i get to the check first (which i try to do a lot). no one is getting off on it, no one is trying to get laid, it's just the way he shows respect and appreciation and love. i'm glad i never called him out for what i thought was a douchebag move, because he wasn't saying "i want to manipulate you into fucking me" he was actually saying "i respect and appreciate you" (but yeah, in most cases if you go so far as too open my car door, i might think you're trying too hard and be annoyed by it)
the point is these things are cultural symbols. they exist. opening a door for someone doesn't have to mean "i want to fuck you" or "you're a pitiful weak female and can't do this for yourself". it's just body language and it usually means "i acknowledge you're going through this door next and respect you enough as human to not let it slam in your face" and if you're so socially detached and cynical that you don't understand that, then no, i probably don't want to date you. but all things become subjective, of course. i usually like shy nerds, and i am usually friends with them first, and then i usually just tell them. but it's not like i've never been asked out first, and i pay attention to body language and signals and social cues. because they exist and say a lot about a person. and maybe it's because i was raised by men, or raised in the south, but courtesy and respect and general politeness are important. and our culture says these things show respect and courtesy. we don't go along telling people we respect them verbally, we open doors and want to share meals and help our neighbors.
and as far as blankfist's encounter with these bitches, some people are shameful and rude. some women are pampered spoiled bitches who think its okay to let his presence on the sidewalk go ignored. and that's wrong.

>> ^imstellar28:
What else can "getting out of a ladies way" be if not chivalry? Chivalry was killed in the mainstream when feminists started complaining about it. It still exists in small circles where and when it can be used as a tool for sexual conquest (as it always was)..i.e. when a guy is after a girl who gets off on "a guy who opens doors for me or picks up the check or has good manners"
The problem in this situation is these women think all men want to court them at all times...hence the pompous sense of entitlement and selfish attitude they project towards men. I'd put them in the same group as the feminists who complain about guys opening doors for them - the "people I don't want to date" group.
>> ^peggedbea:
chivalry:
what remains of it, for the most part, is part of the courting ritual.
...
i'm sorry you have bitchy, attractive, spoiled neighbors. but chivalry and feminism aren't the issue.

there is no feminist conspiracy, i promise. and its not a matter of "getting off on it" it's a matter of broad generalizations about the way people are enculturated and things that are social occurrences. they just are.

and if you ask, you offer to pay. it's the same rule when i ask my female friends out to lunch; i ask, i offer to pay.

i have a really good friend, we met like 9 years ago and dated briefly. he even did the "open the car door thing" and i thought it was way over the top and he was trying way too hard, but something about it seemed oddly sincere so i didn't bust his balls for it right away. but 9 years later and all romantic interest crushed dead, he still opens my car doors and usually pays when go out, even for my kids, except for the times he's been unemployed and i paid for everything, or in cases where i get to the check first (which i try to do a lot). no one is getting off on it, no one is trying to get laid, it's just the way he shows respect and appreciation and love. i'm glad i never called him out for what i thought was a douchebag move, because he wasn't saying "i want to manipulate you into fucking me" he was actually saying "i respect and appreciate you" (but yeah, in most cases if you go so far as too open my car door, i might think you're trying too hard and be annoyed by it)

the point is these things are cultural symbols. they exist. opening a door for someone doesn't have to mean "i want to fuck you" or "you're a pitiful weak female and can't do this for yourself". it's just body language and it usually means "i acknowledge you're going through this door next and respect you enough as human to not let it slam in your face" and if you're so socially detached and cynical that you don't understand that, then no, i probably don't want to date you. but all things become subjective, of course. i usually like shy nerds, and i am usually friends with them first, and then i usually just tell them. but it's not like i've never been asked out first, and i pay attention to body language and signals and social cues. because they exist and say a lot about a person. and maybe it's because i was raised by men, or raised in the south, but courtesy and respect and general politeness are important. and our culture says these things show respect and courtesy. we don't go along telling people we respect them verbally, we open doors and want to share meals and help our neighbors.

and as far as blankfist's encounter with these bitches, some people are shameful and rude. some women are pampered spoiled bitches who think its okay to let his presence on the sidewalk go ignored. and that's wrong.


>> ^imstellar28:
What else can "getting out of a ladies way" be if not chivalry? Chivalry was killed in the mainstream when feminists started complaining about it. It still exists in small circles where and when it can be used as a tool for sexual conquest (as it always was)..i.e. when a guy is after a girl who gets off on "a guy who opens doors for me or picks up the check or has good manners"
The problem in this situation is these women think all men want to court them at all times...hence the pompous sense of entitlement and selfish attitude they project towards men. I'd put them in the same group as the feminists who complain about guys opening doors for them - the "people I don't want to date" group.
>> ^peggedbea:
chivalry:
what remains of it, for the most part, is part of the courting ritual.
...
i'm sorry you have bitchy, attractive, spoiled neighbors. but chivalry and feminism aren't the issue.

The premise of this mini-series titled Dexter Early Cuts is to see Dexter in action before we met him in the first series...to see how he has evolved as a killer from those early days.
>> ^mentality:
Ok, killing someone with a chainsaw in an unprepared abandoned theater just doesn't seem like Dexter. He didn't even change his clothes!
Also, I always thought that the best part of the show was the mystery and suspense. Watching Dexter exact his own perverted sense of justice by torturing and killing his victims never had any appeal to me, and clips like this just seem f'ed up and tasteless.

Have we met?

(like the poem from your hoem)

In reply to this comment by beggedpea:
Don't blow it, poet. Beat the beatnik until he coughs up a lung and a verse about young love and degraded capitalist warranties that warrant removal from society with upheaval of an anarchic variety.

http://lyrics.wikia.com/lyrics/The_Shins:New_Slang

Gold teeth and a curse for this town, were all in my mouth.
Only I don't know how, they got out dear.
Turn me back into the pet,
I was when we met.
I was happier then with no mind-set.

And if you took to me like
A gull takes to the wind.
I'd have jumped from my trees
And I'd have danced like the king of the eyesores
And the rest of our lives would've fared well.

New slang when you notice the stripes, the dirt in your fries.
Hope it's right when you die, old and bony.
Dawn breaks like a bull through the hall,
Never should have called
But my head's to the wall and I'm lonely.

And if you took to me like
A gull takes to the wind.
Well, I'd have jumped from my trees
And I'd have danced like the king of the eyesores
And the rest of our lives would've fared well.

God speed all the bakers at dawn, may they all cut their thumbs,
And bleed into their buns 'til they melt away.

I'm looking in on the good life I might be doomed never to find.
Without a trust or flaming fields... am I too dumb to refine?
And if you took to me like, well -
I'd have danced like the queen of the eyesores
And the rest of our lives would have fared well.

Yeah, it struck me along the lines of an old Gary Larson cartoon, where a dog is listening to his master:
"blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Spot blah blah blah blah Spot blah blah blah"

So I just reversed it.

In reply to this comment by thepinky:
This is one of the best comments I've ever seen.

In reply to this comment by videosiftbannedme:
"...and then I said to her 'Wow, what did you do to your hair?!' and she said 'Do you like it?' and I said 'Oh [[Momma]]! Do I ever!' and then she pulled me over to the closet and started to show me all her new clothes. They were fabulous! She had a new summer dress, and the shoes! I never knew you could have so many. So then we went out to lunch, and we took her MG, you know, that kind of car where the motor goes [[buh buh buh buh]].

Yeah, we met Luke and Chloe there, but Chloe was already eating a [[banana]]. I couldn't believe it! I was like 'Chloe! I thought we were supposed to have lunch?!' and she said 'I know, I know!' and started waving her arms like this! Anyways, so then we ......"

"...and then I said to her 'Wow, what did you do to your hair?!' and she said 'Do you like it?' and I said 'Oh [[Momma]]! Do I ever!' and then she pulled me over to the closet and started to show me all her new clothes. They were fabulous! She had a new summer dress, and the shoes! I never knew you could have so many. So then we went out to lunch, and we took her MG, you know, that kind of car where the motor goes [[buh buh buh buh]].

Yeah, we met Luke and Chloe there, but Chloe was already eating a [[banana]]. I couldn't believe it! I was like 'Chloe! I thought we were supposed to have lunch?!' and she said 'I know, I know!' and started waving her arms like this! Anyways, so then we ......"

Oh fuck, I just remembered another story that has a bit more of a point and is less evil, deceiving and such.

This takes place in Aarhus, where I study now, where the same American friend I mentioned above was visiting and playing for the first time there in a long time. So obviously we had to meet up and get hammered. Now, I had to get back with the last bus, around midnight, because I had to travel back to my island for a vacation at 12 noon. I had everything packed ready to go, except my harddrive, which I usually only remove at the last minute, but I was basically ready to go. So beer time.

We met up at the bar he was playing at, at 9 in the evening, I think. One beer took the next and suddenly it was 00:15 and my bus had just left. Fuck, oh well, I'll just have some fun and grab the first bus in the morning back and get a few hours sleep then.

Then came the shots. Fisherman, Jägermeister and other ugly, ugly stuff, and more beer. we stayed at the bar until about 2 or 3, when it closed down, and waltzed down the road looking for a new place to party on. We found a seedy little disco/bar thing, that we wandered into and had a bunch of tequila - I do ever love Tequila.

When it was 6 or 7'ish in the morning we were both heading back to our respective places. We had to take a bus on each side of the road, but at the same stop, so we just "walked" (nearly crawled) down to the bus stop and just hung there for a while. After a while, we had gotten in place on each side of the road, waiting for our respective buses. Mine came first so I hopped on and promptly fell asleep. I thought that this could do, because I only had to get off at the end point anyway, so I would regain consciousness before that (familiar bumps and whatnot). Well, 20 minutes in, I had no fucking idea where I was. Looked out, and couldn't recognize ANYTHING. So I was like, Oh Fuck...

I went up to the bus driver, who looked on me like I was a leper, and asked if it was going to the station I wanted to go to. He said "No, that's not this #11 that's the other #11 on the other side of the road...".

Well, fuck me. Both of us had gotten the wrong bus!

I eventually switched bus and got home to my place at, I think, 8 o'clock. And I promptly collapsed on my bed.

I had to be on a bus heading down to the train station at 12, so this could have gone completely wrong... and it did.

I woke up at 11:30, with a screaming headache, still woozy, and something didn't feel right. So I turned around and there was a nice big puddle of my own vomit in the middle of my bed. "Oh joy", I quietly thought to myself. Of course, that's in hindsight. At the time it was more like "aauuurrrgghhhhh".

I got the sheets of the bed and the bedspread off and put it in the hamper - no time to wash it anyway. Slowly, shakily I removed the harddrive from my computer (lucky, I can do that in my sleep), and tossed it in my bag and was on my way.

But wait! There's more!

In the bus, I had to be for about 30 minutes until it arrived, and halfway it hit a bump and something lurched inside me. "Ooooh fuuuck" I was having dry heaves and cold, cold sweat. In desperation, I grabbed a shirt from my bag and quietly vomited ever so slightly into it - it was even my favorite shirt! I slipped it back into the bag and was not at all in a good mood. 2 minutes after that a woman approached me and asked if my bag was supposed to have that seat all to itself - not the right time to be bitchy at all, if I had had any strength in me at all I would have throttled her where she stood, but alas I was a sick, drunk, tired, head-aching weakling, so I dragged my corpse to the second seat and put my bag on my lap. I was not a happy camper.

When I got to the train, I had to be on it for about 3-4 hours. Two times, I ran to the bathroom and puked again. Good times. The second time, I just stayed out there and fell asleep on the toilet for half an hour. Not my proudest moment.

When I finally arrived home, my dad thought I was dying. I was sick for three days - seriously, hung over, with the vomit and super-happy-fun times and all, for three fucking days.

Yeah, another sequence from the life of Nicki. I hope you enjoy my misery.

Hmm, let's try one of the more upbeat ones, with no particular point.

I've discovered that I have much more swagger and confidence when I speak English than when I'm in Danish. I'm not sure why, but that's what I've noticed.

Two years ago in the summer I put it to the test, when I was back at my home island of Bornholm. A friend of mine from Texas was over here as well, playing at some different bars over here in the summer. We were in the other part of the island at a bar there, when we got to talking with 3 girls and a guy, who was one of the girl's cousin. Now, my buddy only speaks English, so we were just speaking English to these guys too. After a while one of the girls asked me where I was from, since my buddy was from Texas, but I didn't want to say that "i'm from just around the corner 20 miles away from here", so I asked her and the rest to try to guess. Well, they started to guess different states in the US which was a pretty big ego-boost to my English abilities (hmm, or a lack of English skills on their part). Eventually I got them convinced that I was my buddys cousin from Mississippi (even though I talk with a Texan accent).

This deception went on for about a month, where every time we met them, we spoke English to them, and it got increasingly difficult as more people that knew me got involved. We got the whole bar, who basically all knew me, to play along, which I thought was hilarious.

We had a few drunken nights together, which were great, and at one point, when I was showing off on a guitar, they asked me to play a traditional song from Mississippi. That almost fucking nailed me, because I have no idea what music is played there (I thought about playing something about cotton picking, but I decided against it.. gotta love stereotypes). I avoided it by saying that I didn't really cared for the local music and played something else.

I never really exploited the situation, because I'm too much of a chickenshit, but in hindsight I feel pretty good about it (*bites hand*).

Eventually I was busted, when two of the girls came down to my side of the island for a local harbor party. No big scene or anything, it was just "uhm, hello.."

And they were never heard from again...

No point, just a sequence of events in my life.

It's not worthwhile, but I guess I can share a story...

Some years ago I was spending a week at a friend's summer cabin by the sea, the weather was perfect and we had a great time. After a couple of days we met a mutual aquiantance whom we both can't stand. Let's just call him X. He's the kind of guy who has very rich parents and is proud to show it off, designer clothes, gold watches and always bragging about it. We knew him from school but had never spent any time with him privately. So we meet him at a party and just ignore eachother at first. Some hours later he takes me aside and starts accusing me of "stealing" the girl he was interested in. My response that "life isn't fair" doesn't amuse him one bit.

The following day we eventually get back to my friend's cabin and discover about 10 bags of thrash have been emptied on the lawn. We're both a bit perplexed but just start picking it up. Later that day I mention this to a girl we partied with the night before and she tells me X has been bragging to everyone about getting back at me by dumping trash all over my friend's lawn. I guess it made sense in his mind.

I'm not really a guy who likes getting into arguments, but there was no turning back at that moment. So the next day I get an excellent idea. X's family had just built this ENORMOUS new cabin in the poshest part of town, right by the sea. The place looked like a castle and even had a small island just in front of the main enterance. So my friend and I pick up this really cheesy advertising mascot, which is about 5 ft. tall (pictured here), borrow a small cement mixer from a friend of ours and go by boat to X's cabin. After making sure no one was home we use about 50 kilos of cement to make sure this awful mascot was firmly attached to the small island just next to his house. Then we jumped back in the boat and opened some beers to celebrate.

The only thing I regret is not seeing the look on his face when he first saw it. Hahahaha.