What Would You Do-oo-oo for a Klon-Dump Bar?

The long and the short of it is that today, despite being Friday, I am at work. There is certainly a level of “getting used” to a schedule where normally, I am off on a day when all of you are working, and spending my Sunday at work, while you at home sit and watch football. But the Qatar goes ahead does that weird thing where they make me work a day that I am not normally used to work, throwing me back into flux. I’ve been sitting at my desk for four hours, though where the time went, I am not sure. There are only a few students around this weekend, so me and a co-worker are making sure that nothing gets broken. Or more likely, when something gets broken, that there is someone to report that to. Like I said, sitting at my desk, eating fruit, and listening to the Allah-Las. They sort of sound like the Kinks, and I suggest you listen to them. A student asked me what I was listening to, and I had an awkward moment where I wasn’t sure if the name was offensive. After I finish typing this, I am going to go to the mall and eat at a restaurant called Bombay Chowpatty. It’s delightful. What’s up with you? How are you doing? Do you ever think, I wonder what Sam is up to? I should send him an email. From now on, do that. My mailbox is pretty boring, and email makes my day. Things to think about going forward:

1. Last week, I got my online absentee ballot. I think this means that if  I so chose, I could vote, like right now. In addition to the online ballot, I also got instructions about how to print out and apply for an absentee ballot. These two emails, when looked at in concert present a very confusing set of options. Can I vote? Or do I need to print something off? I don’t know. I’m going to wait until October to figure anything out. Anyway, did you read the long read in last weeks Vanity Fair about President Obama? Michael Lewis was given access to POTUS for 6-months, and its from those interviews that this piece is comprised. I’ll repeat what I’ve said before: there is not a single piece of me that wants to the President. It sounds like such a hard job. Half the country hates you, no matter what, and the other half is constantly expecting you to better, because they voted for you. This piece looks at Obama in a light that I don’t think most MSM commentators give him.

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2012/10/michael-lewis-profile-barack-obama

2. Last night I made the mistake, an honest mistake, of ordering a $27 Gin and Tonic. It followed a series of events that began with us searching for a bar that served shisha and beers on a rooftop, and ended when we walked through a hidden glass door that revolves to expose a fancy lounge. We should have known that we were out of place when everyone was looking at us but it didn’t deter me from ordering. In Qatar, or at least in this specific hotel, you order your Gin and pay one price for that, and then you order your tonic, and you pay another price for that. In this case, it was 10 dollars for the tonic. Go figure. With that in mind, here is a collection of the 15 most expensive hotel suites in the world. I think the hotel I was last night makes an appearance as a chain on this list, so there’s that. Do you like luxury?

http://www.refinedguy.com/2012/09/05/most-expensive-hotel-suites-in-the-world/#1

3. This link is something for people who like cool things. If you are anti cool then don’t click. I happened to find this on NPR the other day and then watched the slideshow associated with this and was absolutely blow-away with the story. Charles Cushman is someone I was not familiar with, but now, after reading and watching this, I am. Cushman, in the inter-war period started experimenting with color photography. These photos went undiscovered for many years, but then someone found them and boom, here we are, looking at color photos from the Golden Gate bridge circa 1938! I’ve seen things remastered, and color added, but never have I seen color photos from so long ago. Worth looking at, and watching the brief video that is associated. I promise:

http://www.npr.org/news/specials/2012/cushman/

4. I was going to write this as “I hate driving!… yadda yadda yadda, robot cars” which I’ve done time and time again in this forum, but today, I’ll tell you a story about my driver. His name, for sake of ambiguity, will be Abdullah. Abdullah drives me to and from work every day. There are 10 of us packed in Abdullah’s white van, and it’s never comfortable. Abdullah doesn’t turn on the radio, or use fifth gear. He drives below the speed limit and occasionally takes us 35km out of the way to get gas from a special gas station. He’s really nice, but he never speaks. I feel bad for him because I think his job, every day, is to ferry us from point A to point B, wait at point B while we work, drive us to Point A, and then return to Point B to get in his real car and drive home. It’s a terrible existence for anyone. So what I am getting at is that I am pumped about robot cars, because then Abdullah can do other things during his day. Estimates say that we won’t need driver’s licenses by 2040. So, I’m looking at buying a robot car for a retirement gift.

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2012/09/ieee-autonomous-2040/ 

5. Did you cheat on tests in school? I did. Chemistry class, all the time. The teacher thought that by making us spread our desks out that we wouldn’t be able to cheat. Or something like that.  But it still happened. I think I cheated because I was lazy and not interested in learning chemistry. I never cheated because I was concerned with getting “good grades.” I wanted good grades, but the pressure never drove me to cheat. If I cheated, I cheated for a totally different reason. New York Magazine ran a story last week called “Why Students Cheat on Tests.” It talks about a highly competitive high school in NYC that recently discovered a massive 140 person cheating ring that used cell phones to communicate answers. The story talks about the pressures, the fallout and the future of cheating. Long-ish read:

http://nymag.com/news/features/cheating-2012-9/

6. We played a car ride game the other night, while on our way to get gas, where one person had to name a movie and then the next person named a person in that movie and then the next person had to name a movie that person was in. Example: Crazy, Stupid, Love- Emma Stone- Easy A. This in theory goes on for a long time, or a short time, depending on your cars’ knowledge of IMDB. I haven’t seen a new movie in a while, but I did watch a movie last night starring Steven Dorf as a bank robber on roller blades that was particularly bad. Anyway, I don’t know what’s happening in film in the US, but here is an interview Cameron Crowe did with Emma Stone. I think it was probably meant as press for her movie with Baby Goose, but they pushed the release of that to re-work the ending following the Batman shooting. It’s introspective. Enjoy:

http://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/emma-stone#_

7. We’ll end with back to back entertaining things. Because some how I’ve been at work for 5 hours and I’ve managed to entertain myself this long. Do you remember DMX? When was the last time you thought about him? It’s Dark and Hell is Hot. I remember thinking that it was a good idea to try to rap along to “Party Up” at middle school dances in the Badger Theatre. Note to seventh grade Sam, It wasn’t. But since I just put it on to listen to, I can still drop some of the lines without even thinking about it. Anyway, someone decided it was a good idea to watch DMX try to google himself. What ensues is hilarity. DMX hates computers, and is particularly afraid of laptops. He also holds strong opinions about the word “google.” If you have 1:30 seconds, watch this video. If you have 5 minutes, watch the video, then read this funny break down of the video.

http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood-prospectus/post/_/id/58055/dmx-vs-the-computer-an-analysis

8. I shaved this morning, using my shower mirror and razor. I made the mistake of growing a beard last time I was in this region, and I don’t think I’ve gotten any manlier in the years since that happened. My beard still grows in patchy and looks silly. The people who advised me that I looked good were lying. I apologize to you if you knew me during this period of my life. With that said, here is video by a group called The Beards. They strictly make music about having beards. This song acts as a Beard Growers manifesto. The arc basically goes– grow a beard, take over the world, take no prisoners. Words to live by:

http://www.viddler.com/v/f6266757

 

Bombay Chowpatty. See you soon.

Thanks for letting me take some time out of my “busy” work schedule to share this 1500 word dump with you.