Tony’s Journal

This is some news from Kentucky, though it just as easily could have come from NC. . .

HARLAN, Ky. — Politicians are known for lame jokes. But when Otis “Bullman” Hensley tried a generations-old Appalachian jest on a woman and two girls at the grocery store, the family thought it was downright criminal . . .

The ordeal began last week when Hensley’s wife sent him to a local grocery store to buy ground beef. While there, Hensley encountered a woman with her two nieces, ages 11 and 13. “I offered to trade her a fattening hog for those girls,” Hensley said. “I meant it as a joke. I’ve said it a million times. Most people get a kick out of it.”

The woman didn’t laugh. Instead, the family obtained a warrant for Hensley’s arrest from the local prosecutor, claiming the comment was intended to entice the children into illegal sexual activity.

Ky. politician jailed after joke; charge dismissed

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I guess it might actually make sense, as my lineage is Italian (Axis power), German (Hapsburg/pointy helmet connection), and Slovak (used to be part of Hungary). But basically it’s just the fact that I spent nine days there last year and still act like a college-sophomore-who-just-returned-from-studying-abroad about it. Ah well.

• One of the things we noticed when we were there is that a lot of the music is covers of popular songs in English. They sounds familiar but not quite right. It’s like the radio is a lounge singer. I’m listening to MR2 right now and they just played a smooth jazz cover of “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?“. It sounded like Sade was singing it. But it wasn’t. I don’t get it. And then straight into a Funkdoobiest song that I haven’t heard in forever. It’s been drizzling all day, which makes it remind me a LOT of our trip, and I feel like I’m just missing some hot wine and cigarette smoke.
• This will only make sense to the lads who went on the trip, but here goes. We were upset to learn that West Balkan had closed, but they actually did move and reopen. Now they are open right around the corner from where they used to be. And there is some kind of “semi-permanent” location discussed, whatever that means. I’m glad they are open(ish) and look forward to checking out whatever opium den they have once it reopens.
• I’m still slowly learning Hungarian. Not nearly as fast as I wanted to, but faster than any American can be expected to. After all, we are busy as “the War Makers.” I can proudly tell you the word for deer, and bear, and fox, and beer, and can string together short sentences, and am able to go to a restaurant and order five beers. Or five bears, for that matter.
• Speaking of being “war makers,” even though Viola didn’t mean offense by that comment, it is worth noting that people often disagree with their governments. Especially worth noting is that Bush actually out-populars Hungarian president Gyurcsány at the moment by a narrow margin — 29.6% of Americans approve of Bush and 28% approve of Gyurcsány. Neither is much to be proud of, but it looks like we have something to toast to with the Hungarians: to a new government. Their president was a Communist youth leader, for God’s sake.

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Looked up the status of my iPhone 3G order online, as I have constantly during the 10 days since I bought it, and wonder of wonders, it has shipped.

Yeeeeeaaaaaah boyeeeeeeeee!

This is awesome for a couple of reasons. First of all, it’s a cool toy. Second of all, my current purple phone has been in declining health lately — keeps arbitrarily shutting itself off for no reason, including during calls. Not good. Although in fairness, this phone does have a sticker on the inside that says “Prototype - Not For Sale.” Oh well. Soon, I will have sweet, sweet money-sucking iPhone 3G goodness. I promise to quickly and accidentally break it.

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I want to blog better (more thoughtfully). Not entirely because you care, but because I do.

I am not entirely pleased with myself in all ways, but I am in control.

I need to be more careful with my money, even though I’m in good shape. I believe the saying is “waste not, steal catalytic converters and sell them for scrap cash not.”

I ordered a new iPhone. (yeah there’s the half)

I am happier now than I used to be, and I have been happy for some time.

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• How about local boy Josh Hamilton going bananas at the Home Run Derby last night? Since he’s from Cary and went to ADHS, everyone around here seems to have some claim about “I Knew Him When [ we went to high school together / he went to our church / we believed in the same Christian God / he bought a Big Mac from me when I worked at McDonalds in high school / etc ]“. (Actually, Melissa does kind of know him, apparently she went to an O’s/Rangers game not long ago and he recognized her and asked about her dad, etc.) He is a really good story. Yeah, I know, it’d have been best had he not become addicted to alcohol and crack in the first place, but the point is, he is back and ridiculous. And this is after he took three years off of baseball. Good for him.
• The new Me First and the Gimme Gimmes album is okay. I already had most of the mp3s, I guess, and these songs are mainly not new (if any are) but they are good to put in your ears from time to time.
• I am an idiot for buying Nike shoes. Especially because before I bought them I thought “this is a dumb move.” And I was right. Idiot = me.
• Is it okay to put up wallpaper anymore? I really want to do that in my “office” at home. I am kind of eyeing this pattern because I would love for my walls to look like an old Wendy’s table.
• I’ve always wondered about people who appear in stock photos. Here’s an interesting profile of one who is pretty much ubiquitous as nameless smiling faces go.
• I am now a text messaging fiend, I guess, because I have already used over 300 texts this billing cycle with 6 days left. My plan only includes 200. OH NOES. I switched to a textier package on Friday and supposedly it took effect immediately; if two different AT&T lackeys were wrong about that, my bill will be redonkulous and I reckon I am gonna have to retain Dayo, Esq. as legal counsel since he gets things done.
• That defining attention-whore song “I Kissed a Girl” song sounds different when I sing it, as opposed to Katy Perry, who was waiting tables in Charlotte whaaaat? It’s such a damn catchy song, and I’ll listen to it in my office and lip-synch idly along. So far I have freaked out two wide-eyed incoming freshmen and almost laugh-asphyxiated Richard with this action.
• Since our voyage to Eastern Europe last October, the dollar is down 16.7% against the Hungarian forint but up 9.6% against the Serbian dinar. So perhaps next time, goodbye Laszlo, hello Miroslav, and more importantly, hel-LO disproportionately attractive female Serb window-washers and trash-collectors.

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You know the market is bad when I can say “yay, my retirement account is down 9% for the year” and feel good about it because the Dow and NASDAQ are down about 16%.

Also, it is a damn good thing that I can’t touch these accounts until 2040, when things will be better.

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I’m getting pretty bad at blogging. But I still do it.

I learned a new word today:

uxorious – adjective - doting upon, foolishly fond of, or affectionately submissive toward one’s wife.

Sounds like the sort of adjective that I’d find describing me. Hmm.

In other news, a nice bit of graffiti I saw this morning. I don’t see nothing wrong with it:

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I am not usually a big soccer fan, casual at best, but I am interested in the current Euro 2008 tournament. Yesterday I used the resources available to me to hook up a laptop and a projector to show the live Germany-Turkey match on the wall of my office, as the European night games start at about 2:30 pm Eastern. It’s not too distracting, really, and I have the audio running over some speakers so I just look up when the British announcer starts talking especially quickly and loudly.

Right now I’ve got the other semifinal match going, Spain vs. Russia. Not a very eventful game so far, though Russia looks weak.

So I’m here working, and I turn my head a few minutes ago to find a Hispanic man outside my window. This is very unusual, as my window is 20 feet above the ground. He’s here to wash the windows, which is something I’d not seen since I got this office in January, but he’s just there in my window, watching the soccer match. This is what he saw:

He was squinting a lot, so I got a piece of paper and wrote in a big sharpie

He smiled and gave me the thumbs up and lowered himself down, out of view.

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Al Roker hosted a piece on the Today Show this morning during which NC BBQ faced off against SC BBQ with a live taste test. The NC entry was Ed Mitchell from The Pit in downtown. The white guy in the background with the goatee is State grad Greg Hatem, a guy who is doing a hell of a job revitalizing Raleigh by renovating old buildings, with places like The Pit and The Raleigh Times and the Duck & Dumpling, to name just a few. Watch to see who won. Actually, you know I wouldn’t be posting this if NC lost, so. . . ha! “South Carolina - First in Failure.”

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How did I forget to link in the photos?

I don’t know.

Here they at.

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