Archive for category Life
The big 2-9
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So my 29th birthday is here and I am ready to put this year behind me. I must say that I have had a mighty tough year and that many mistakes were made. As good friends keep reminding me though, mistakes are good as long as you learn from them. So, have I learned from them? Wait and see is the best advice I can give anyone on that matter. As part of my year to be forgotten, I have had many ups and downs. At times I thought everything was going to be alright only to regress back into the ass that got me into this mess. Birthdays and new years always seem like a good time to make dramatic life changes, so I will try and take advantage of this and jump start my journey to become myself once again. If this past year has taught me anything, it is that we all really do reap what we sow. I made some horribly selfish choices during my downward spiral and let others get caught up in my path of self destruction. I have apologized to those involved, but only my future actions hold the power of redemption. The stain that my behavior has left on my reputation will not be easy to wash away, but I feel like I am making steps in the right direction. Hopefully I will be able to look back on my 30th next year and actually be able to smile about the year I had. A really big thank you to my good friends who put up with my fuckery for the past year and somehow didn’t openly hate me. A sincere apology once again to those I hurt. A swift kick in the ass for me for allowing myself to lose sight of what was really important.
They Want Efx…
Hello once again people of the world wide web. I have been missing in action (I love you Chuckie) for a couple of weeks now, but I am now back. What can I say? The life of a young American living in one of the most beautiful cities in the world during one of the nicest stretches of weather in recent memoy is tough. There are some legitimate reasons for my online absence, but in all honesty I have just been lazy. I apologize to all of my followers, both of you. I can only pray you forgive me and decide to spread the word about the awesomeness that is my blog. Here are a couple of shorts about some recent events.
Beautiful Destruction
I have been watching MMA seriously now for about 10 years. During that time I have witnessed some truly epic battles and displays of technical brilliance. This past Saturday I watched the Strikeforce PPV and came away very impressed with the level of skill and heart shown by the two fighters in the main event. I did not expect such a testosterone fuelled beating as both fighters have vaginas. Yes, the competitors were the two top female MMA fighters on the planet. Gina Carano stepped in to face the brutal Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos for the first Strikeforce women’s title belt. I had seen both fighters in the past, but was honestly disapointed with what I saw. There was no doubt that they were highly trained atheletes but it was kind of like watching most other womens sports; they have the fundamentals down and do everything technically right, but the men are just faster and stronger. However, my mind is now changed after seeing what happened on Saturday night. Both of these warriors laid it all on the line to put on a great show for the fans. The obviously out matched Carano showed a tremendous amount of heart and even dished out a couple of hard shots that rocked Cyborg. There was plenty of brute strength, technical prowess, and strategy to be seen in the cage. I was thoroughly impressed with both fighters and would gladly stay up until 7 am to watch a rematch (One of the disadvantages of being a sports fan on this side of the globe). Although the rest of the women in MMA are not at this level and most likely will never be, it was really refreshing to see Carano and Cyborg represent the sport like true champions. On a side note, Gegard Mousasi easily won his title fight with Renato Sobral. He should have signed with UFC who has a much deeper 205 division. I would love to see him against the UFCs elite light heavyweights.
Revenge in The Bay
Just a quick note about the Vikings finally signing Brett Favre. I hate it. I have always liked Favre and his gunslinger mentality on the field. He was also a raging alcoholic who underperformed for my beloved Falcons. He went on to GB to win two superbowls during a hall of fame career. Hooray for him. I am happy that it is over and I can now watch something not Favre related on sports TV. Congratulations to my two homies that are Vikings fans. This move instantly puts them at the top of the food chain in the NFL. Best defense in the NFL, check. Awesome O line, check. Best Rb in the game, check. Hall of Fame Qb, check. Let’s just hope he doesn’t Favre it up as soon as the Vikes enter the playoffs.
WTF Did He Say…
So this summer I went to Southside music festival with some friends in a camper van and had a most awesome time. While there I got a chance to see Kings of Leon. I have always liked their music, but never bothered to purchase any of it. They put on of the best performances of the weekend and I came away determined to become a real fan. I bought (downloaded from a friend, same thing) their newest album a couple of weeks back and it has been on heavy rotation ever since. I am really digging their new psychedelic rock swing and lead singer guys amazing vocals. I am sure all of you have had WTF moment while listening to a song you have heard many times before. I was riding my bike and kind of signing along to “I Want You” when I had to do a double take on myself as I could not believe I had just said what I thought I did. Blindly repeating words, something in my brain clicked and let me know that I had just said something that was not quite right. Thanks to modern technology I was able to rewind the track a bit and hear this little gem; “It’s heavy I know, the black guy with the gift down below. A choke and a gag, she spit up and came back for more”. I still chuckle every time I think of this.
That Is All
So that is the end of my post for today. I promise to do my best to keep the articles coming in the future. While I have not been blessed with my oldest sisters wit and excellent grasp of grammar, I make up for it with my blatant ignorance and slight assholeness. At least you will always know what you’re getting with me. So so writing on subjects you probably don’t care about and links of a most awesome nature. I am also trying to get some of my friends to contribute on here as some of them actually have interesting things to say at times. Here are some links to entertain you. Later monkeys…
Everyone loves cartoon theme songs (Heckler Spray)
Awesome blog about an asshole that e-mails
Some great light graffiti art (Daily Mail)
McLovin remakes Training Day (Trailer Trasher)
Dude is invisible (Oddity Central)
I had no idea this would be so damn cool (Youtube)
I have watched this like 100 times just for the guys face (Youtube)
Some cool stuff for your office (Cube Craft)
Great article on Shel Silverstein (Mental Floss)
Some Art You Should Support
Just a quick post with links to some artists that you should check out.
I just saw Eskimo Joe for the first time a bit ago at the Southside festival. They absolutely rocked it!
Codes is a band from Ireland and they are starting to blow up on this side of the pond. They most recently played at the Oxygen festival in Ireland.
Jessie Smith is a good friend of mine and one of the sickest artists out there right now. He continues to blow my mind with his talents.
Guys from Human Giant and Reno 911 remake a classic scene.
One quick FAIL I saw when parking my bike last night. Why bother?
That Place With a Castle On The Hill
With my first official post I would like to introduce you to the city I call home. Heidelberg is situated in a valley along the Neckar river in the state of Baden-Wurtemberg. It is quite a small city covering about 42 sq. mi with a population of around 140,000. The city is very rich in history and can trace its roots as far back as the 5th century BC. Beautiful to an almost disgusting degree, Heidelberg has become one of the most visited cities in Europe. On any given day downtown, you can be sure that about 70% of the people are not from around here. This is a bit of a nuisance at times to us locals, but tourism is what this place survives on. I enjoy the fact that I am in numerous photo albums of Asian tourists due to the fact that I long ago stopped waiting for people creating memories.
Heidelberg is also the home of Ruprecht Karls University, more commonly known as the University of Heidelberg. It is the oldest univeristy in Germany and has become very international with over 20% of its student body coming from foreign countries.
A good friend of mine came here almost three years ago for a short visit and found she just couldn’t leave. This is a story that you will hear repeated often here as Heidelberg has the eerie ability to make people stay. Ich Hab’ Mein Herz in Heidelberg Verloren (I Lost My Heart in Heidelberg) is a famous song that every Heidelberger knows, and every tourist will. The city has now become an international meeting ground and the official language has unofficially changed to English. I don’t know of many other places where you can meet people from so many different places and backgrounds. This cultural diversity really brings this city to life and is what I think makes Heidelberg unique and unforgettable. Should you ever visit, be sure to get into contact with me and I will be glad to share some tips and maybe even show you around. This was just a short introduction that you hopefully enjoyed. I will continue to post articles on sites and events in the Rhein Necker region.
Gum Bumpers