Bialynia Blogging

2009-01-23T18:25:00.001-06:00

First post of '09? Not today...

xB on the street

2008-06-06T10:42:00.001-05:00

Caught this one going to work.

Xb is pure gold

2008-05-20T09:59:00.001-05:00

2007-11-02T15:32:00.000-05:00

Władysław II Jagiełło had a name change, it is now Jogaila

I haven't written anything in a while, but a Wikipedia article by the name of "Jogaila" forces my hand. Never heard of Jogaila? Well that's because it is the Lithuanian version of the name of one Poland and Lithuania's* most famous kings, Władysław II Jagiełło, a name this King took upon taking the Polish throne. The encyclopedic article on Jagiełło has received the "featured article status" reserved for the best that Wikipedia has to offer.

Let me give you some background, this article was originally named Wladislaus II of Poland, a name properly used in many English language history books. This latinised version of the Polish name has gone out of vogue, as more contemporary works now use the the Polish spelling and pronunciation Władysław II Jagiełło. Of course the Polish version of the name opened a can of worms, since someone somehow saw this as an affront to the fact that Władysław II Jagiełło is Lithuania (I have never seen anyone try to dispute this indisputable fact), and more importantly to this group of folks, he was the ruler of Lithuania. So now it became the "mine is bigger then yours" argument reincarnated as "Lithuania was just as or more important then Poland" argument, therefore some idiot changed the name of the article to Jogaila of Lithuania with a note that this was a "More sensible, less Polonocentric name". As if the popularized version of the name was secondary to the the nationality of the individual. I'm sure the Duke of Lorraine preferred to be called by his Polish name of Stanislaw Leszczynski (I need a roll my eyes emoticon here). After months of gamesmanship the article was finally left with the awful and useless Jogaila title. Is awfl to harsh a word? Well for comparisons sake, should Pope John Paul II's article be named "Karol Wojtyla" the name he was born with in Poland? Should people looking for Stalin have to type in Josef Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili? Or maybe Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov instead of just Lenin?

So to this date the name of the article has never been changed to what it should be, the historically recognized name that the King himself chose to be called by. It hasn't because in Wikipedia a few rabid individuals can make an accepted name into a "controversial" move.

I have abandoned Wikipedia in the past year or so, venturing onto the pages only to get some information instead of participating in building a great reservoir of knowledge. Why participate if some nationalistic editors hijack an article and rename it, and then use Wikipedian rules to enforce the name change? Other things, like the idiotic notion of "notability" for an article to be included, have hampered my enthusiasm as well. (Stephen Colbert's term Wikiality is persona non grata on the great Wikipedia because, as it turns out, not only are many of the editors humorless, but they also hold vendetta's)

Well I think Wikipedia has hit a wall, the numbers of users and growth has peaked and now growth is slowing, statistics show users are putting less time into articles, and I can see why. Having to spend time arguing over whether an article should be called Jogaila or the obvious Władysław II Jagiełło is off putting, only the rabid point of view pushers remain, while the pragmatic middle is forced to jump ship. To bad.

*Jagiełło was Duke of Lithuania

2007-05-22T11:31:00.000-05:00

The Westinghouse LVM-47w1 is really, really, really sweet

It's 47 inches in all of its glory, and the picture it produces is superb. I have to say I've been VERY pleased with the purchase. So has my cat, who previously would always ignore the TV, but now when an animal show shows up in HD, he's mesmerized as well.

2007-05-07T23:20:00.000-05:00

Damn you Chicago Bulls! DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now win one in Chicago for christ sake.

2006-11-10T12:59:00.000-06:00

Armistice Day

I wanted to give a shout out to those that did some fighting for freedom in the olden days of WWI.

Jozef Bialynia - thanks for defending Lwów in WWI.

Celestyn - we remember you for fighting and planning the Wielkopolska Uprising in 1846. You made us proud.

Tomasz, Ferdinand, Jozef and Celestyn - thanks for taking part in the January Uprising of 1863.

2006-02-23T14:09:00.000-06:00

World Baseball Classic? I'm excited!

Finally, a World Cup for baseball. I keep reading and hearing talk of the WBC being stupid and pointless (Mike Downey for the Chicago Tribune, Boers and Bernstein on WSCR 670), but it's stupid and pointless to those that don't get the purpose of it. Baseball is an international sport, and I can't wait to see how the USA's best stack up against the opposition. It will give many stars the opportunity to play on great teams before they go back to the mediocre teams they are stuck on. I love the idea of seeing players representing their nations. I hope that eventually the WBC becomes more important then the regular season, just as the World Cup trumps anything else in soccer. I hope that players will fight for spots instead of being begged to play. What worries me is that most of the stars may not play in the games, they're dropping out like flies. I hope Hideki Matsui gets ridiculed and humiliated for not playing for Japan, I hope Aramis Ramirez lives to regret his decision for dropping out.
Most of all I hope to see hardnosed competitive baseball.

2006-02-13T13:15:00.000-06:00

Want to watch the Turino Winter Olympics live in the US? You're out of luck, unless it's hockey you're after. NBC and its stable of cable channels has decided to once again tape delay the Turin Olympics for your enjoyment. For example, ski jumping occured at 12 pm EST on Sunday, but NBC waited a full six hours to show the event. It wasn't preempted by luge or men's downhill or anything else, it was delayed because NBC wants to show the olympics in primetime. They think that they'll increase ratings this way. What they do is confuse the hell out of the viewer, I missed ski jumping yesterday because I wasn't able to tune into NBC for its full four hour primetime block. NBC doesn't tell you what time a specific event will air, and they intermix events so that you never know what you've missed. Still, I have a solution for those who actually want to see the events LIVE (what a concept!), download the program ppstream and tune into CCTV5. PPstream is a P2P TV streaming program, it is currently limited to channels in Asia, but for the Olympics it does the trick. I was getting 400kb/s constant stream of CCTV5 yesterday, and I got to watch a lot of the events LIVE in the US. Screw you NBC!

2006-01-31T14:41:00.000-06:00

He loves us! He really really loves us!

A historic statement was made today by aspiring Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, he said, and I kid you not, that he has high respect for Poland and its "contribution to world culture, economy and the present day affairs of Europe and the world." Okay, what in the world is going on here, and where did they stash away the real Putin? Just months before Polish diplomats were being beaten up in Moscow by what looked like sanctioned retaliatory acts. Polish-Russian relations also hit a lowpoint when Poland aggressively and openly supported Viktor Yushchenko's Orange Revolution in the Ukraine. So to hear Vlad say he has high respect for Poland is, well, out of the blue. Which begs to question, what does Vlad want from Poland? This is, in diplomatic terms, a bribe. We'll just have to wait and see.

2006-01-26T18:59:00.000-06:00

The big 29. I only have a year of the twenties left in me, quite a depressing conundrum. What do I do with my last year as a twenty-something? I am quite surprised how unexcited I am at the prospect of turning 29. 28, 27, 26, they were afterthoughts, and birthdays are always fun, but this 29th one is different. I'm not looking forward to it at all. It's like a countdown to 30, and even though they say 50 is the new 30, 30 is not the new 20, or even 25. 30 is what it is, 10 years removed from 40. If you haven't accomplished anything by 40, you probably won't, that's just the way things are. So at 30 you get to feel all that pressure of having to make something of your life by 40. And at 29 you know that all that pressure is just around the corner. Plus, did you know Michelangelo was 29 when he completed David? That really makes me feel good, aughhhh. 16, 18, 21, all those birthdays gave you stuff to look forwards to. 29? It should be called 30 -1.

2006-01-25T18:28:00.000-06:00

And now an excerpt from the unfinished masterpiece titled "Idiocy?", currently in its seventh year of being written:

My thoughts switched again to my crumpled suit. It was a cheap one I picked out during my first year at U of C. I wouldn’t let my parents buy me one, I guess I felt guilty that I was wasting their money on an education that I wasn’t using. Regardless, even with my healthy new checks, I never felt like getting up to buy a new suit. I picked the dark olive suit off the floor and tried to straighten it with my hands. I knew it was a feeble attempt, but it was out of habit. I looked in my drawers, great, all out of socks and underwear. Well, I’d been out of socks and underwear for two days as it was, so it was another day of smily face boxers for me. The socks I wasn’t happy about, I turned over old newspapers searching the floor until I found a pair under the bed that looked like they hadn’t been worn in a while. You have to understand my theory on clothes, especially socks. Socks are only good for one day of wear, maybe two if you’re lucky. Now, if your socks haven’t been worn for two or three weeks, I firmly believe that the odor and whatever else your foot projects onto the sock, evaporates. Therefore, I usually have no problem with wearing old socks, the only exception is if you’ve already done this to the sock twice. Then the sock must be washed. Underwear on the other hand is a completely different matter. You can wear underwear as long as it feels good, but you may in no way ever put on an old pair of underwear, it doesn’t work the way the socks do.
So, I put on my navy blue socks, smelled my white shirts that hugged all the corners of the room as if saying “please, please, not me!” I did a smell check and decided which one was the best. I put on the only tie in sight, pulled on my suit, and looked in the mirror. Yes, I was a used car salesman. A little cologne, and I was ready to leave. A little light went off in my head saying “pack”, I hated those lights. So I got my old, worn, brown briefcase, looked over the room and decided I would buy some clothes in Warsaw. I threw in my trusty deoderent/anti-perspirent, and I was ready to go. Getting into my car I could feel my feet, and figured that maybe it was time to amend my sock theory.

Now if that isn't some A-grade writing I don't know what is, I mean Kant, Hesse, Hemmingway, Dostoyevsky, they all come to mind.

2006-01-23T13:47:00.000-06:00

The race is on! To find a picture with our President Dubya and "Radioactive" Abramoff that is. Time claims to have seen five pictures featuring Dubya and Radioactive together, unfortunately they're all from the same event. Still, I would like to see these photos, so if you have 'em send them in. I, for instance, have a picture with former Illinois Governor James Thompson's two dogs, and I'm not afraid to use them.

2006-01-19T17:52:00.000-06:00

I did not know this, but apparently to prove that cancer isn't that big of a deal, Chuck Norris smoked 15 cartons of cigarettes a day for 2 years and aquired 7 different kinds of cancer only to rid them from his body by flexing for 30 minutes. Beat that, Lance Armstrong.

I also found out that according to the actor's publicist, Jeff Duclos, Norris' favorite Chuck Norris fact is the one about the Boogeyman: "When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris."

The Random Chuck Norris Fact Generator lists the most popular Chuck Norris fact as "Chuck Norris' tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried."

2006-01-09T15:41:00.000-06:00

Does anyone really believe that Cheney was hospitalized for an apparent shortness of breath because of medication he was taking for a foot ailment? What, are we that stupid? The guy has a ticker that would have gone a long time ago had in not been for the pact with the Devil. I did make the prediction of a staph infection for Cheney last year, this year I predict...

2005-12-14T17:58:00.000-06:00

I am one happy guy. "Why are you happy?", you may ask yourselves. My answer is "Borat is not Polish". Borat, the Kazakhstani faux journalist guy who appears on the Ali G show which airs on HBO, is very funny, and very insulting to Kazakhstani's. As I said, I'm happy he does not portray a Pole.

Example of Borat in all is glory

2005-11-28T14:48:00.000-06:00

I'm back, miss me?

So I was in Poland for two weeks, I had access to email but I decided to be blog free. P3 started up during this time and I plan to take a part as soon as I catch up on some work and some sleep. And some advice, don't mix the Żołądkowa with Żubrówka and Tequila, unless you like to clean up after yourself.

2005-11-09T15:19:00.000-06:00

I'm AWOL
presumed having a good time

I should be in and out for the next few weeks. Ca-lick!

2005-11-04T11:15:00.000-06:00

Time to impeach Bush?

If you can impeach a president for lying about sexual indiscretions, then you would think that impeaching a president for lying about the reasons for going to war would surely fit the bill. The only question is: does the American populace feel the same way? The answer appears to be a weak yes (which is better then a sharp stick in the eye). As Rawstory.com is reporting, Zogby International has found that 51% of Americans believe Bush should have impeachment proceedings started if he lied about the reason for going to war with Iraq. Zogby International was the most accurate polling company during the presidential elections of 2000, but famously innacurately predicted a Kerry victory on the basis of early polling results during the 2004 presidential election. Zogby is currently the only polling company asking any questions about a possible Bush impeachment, but other polling companies will certainly pick up the slack, and we can be sure to see similair questions asked by Reuters and the AP in the near future.

2005-11-02T18:42:00.000-06:00

The NFL has become the Special Olympics

Tedi Bruschi got the NFL defensive player award this week for PLAYING. I rest my case.

2005-10-31T11:46:00.000-06:00

Press not so free in Poland, US
Nordic countries top list

The United States dropped by more than 20 places to 44th place in the Reporters Without Borders fourth annual World Press Freedom Index, while Poland also dropped more than twenty spots to tie for 53rd place, behind such notables as Bulgaria and Mozambique. This should come as no surprise to both countries, the US government in the Bush era has led an attack on alleged liberal bias in the media while mostly cutting off a free flow of information from the White House. Polish courts on the other hand have ordered reporters to be jailed for such actions as libeling local officials. Once again leading the pack were the Nordic countries, which is no surprise. Now I'd like to see Bush meet with Putin again and have him lecture how a free press is important. BTW, Russia is ranked 138th, just behind the United States of America in Iraq!

1 Denmark - Finland - Iceland - Ireland - Netherlands - Norway - Switzerland
8 Slovakia
9 Czech Republic - Slovenia
11 Estonia
12 Hungary - New Zealand - Sweden - Trinidad and Tobago
16 Austria - Latvia
18 Belgium - Germany - Greece
21 Canada - Lithuania
23 Portugal
24 United Kingdom
25 Benin - Cyprus - Namibia
28 El Salvador
29 Cape Verde
30 France
31 Australia - South Africa
33 Bosnia and Herzegovina
34 Jamaica - Mauritius - South Korea
37 Japan - Mali
39 Hong-Kong
40 Spain 41 Costa Rica 42 Italy 43 Macedonia 44 United States of America (American territory) 45 Bolivia 46 Uruguay 47 Israel 48 Bulgaria 49 Mozambique 50 Chile
51 Dominican Republic - Taiwan
53 Cyprus (North) - Mongolia - Poland
56 Croatia 57 Niger
58 Timor-Leste
59 Argentina
60 Botswana - Fiji
62 Albania
63 Brazil - Tonga
65 Serbia and Montenegro
66 Ghana - Panama
68 Nicaragua 69 Paraguay 70 Romania
71 Congo - Guinea-Bissau - Seychelles
74 Moldova - Tanzania
76 Angola - Honduras
78 Burkina Faso - Senegal
80 Uganda 81 Lesotho 82 Central African Republic
83 Cameroon - Liberia
85 Kuwait 86 Guatemala 87 Ecuador 88 Comoros 89 Malawi
90 Burundi - Cambodia - Qatar - Venezuela - Zambia
95 Togo 96 Jordan 97 Madagascar 98 Turkey 99 Georgia
100 Kosovo - United Arab Emirates
102 Armenia - Gabon - Guinea - Indonesia
106 India 107 Thailand 108 Lebanon
109 Chad - Kenya
111 Kyrgyzstan 112 Ukraine
113 Malaysia - Tajikistan
115 Sri Lanka 116 Peru 117 Haiti 118 Swaziland
119 Kazakhstan - Morocco
121 Djibouti 122 Rwanda
123 Bahrein - Nigeria
125 Afghanistan 126 Sierra Leone 127 Mauritania 128 Colombia 129 Algeria 130 Gambia 131 Ethiopia 132 Palestinian Authority 133 Equatorial Guinea - Sudan 135 Mexico 136 Yemen 137 United States of America (in Iraq) 138 Russia 139 Philippines 140 Singapore 141 Azerbaijan 142 Bhutan 143 Egypt 144 Côte d’Ivoire 145 Syria 146 Democratic Republic of Congo 147 Tunisia 148 Maldives 149 Somalia 150 Pakistan 151 Bangladesh 152 Belarus 153 Zimbabwe 154 Saudi Arabia
155 Laos - Uzbekistan
157 Iraq 158 Vietnam 159 China 160 Nepal 161 Cuba 162 Libya 163 Burma 164 Iran 165 Turkmenistan 166 Eritrea 167 North Korea

2005-10-28T12:52:00.000-05:00

Fitzmas? Fitznukah? Fitztevus!

It looks like Fitzmas will become Fitznukah, since "Scooter" Libby has been indicted (perjury! Obstruction of justice!) and with more indictments to come in the next week. Instead, I propose we all celebrate Fitztevus! The holiday for the rest-of-us. It is, after all, the most appropriate holiday, because it includes the famous Airing of Grievances. Unlike Fitzmas or Fitnukah, Fitztevus can include our Republican friends, who can air grievances like "you're always so damn right!" I would gladly sit Libby, Cheney and Rove at the table, and after all the grievances were aired I would gladly challenge Cheney to a Feat of Strength so that Fitztevus could appropriately end with a Cheney coronary thrombosis.

2005-10-27T15:36:00.000-05:00

Execute Rove and Libby?
Fitzmas will soon be upon us, and the right wing blogosphere is up in arms over the comments of Al Franken, who on the the Late Show with David Letterman said that Karl Rove and "Scooter" Libby will likely be executed because they committed treason. Al then reiterated his statements to Matt Lauer on the Today Show:

"Oh they, they'll be indicted. I, I am absolutely sure and this is about, of course, the war in Iraq really. It's about the justification for the war and smearing Joe Wilson by outing his wife who's a CIA agent. George H.W. Bush, the President's father, said, as, when he was head of the CIA, that outing a CIA agent is treason. I, I agree. So I think that Rove and Libby will be executed."

On the Letterman show Franken also said:

"I don't know how I feel about it [execution] because I'm basically against the death penalty, but they are going to be executed it looks like."

The right wingers obviously cannot take a joke, but what they are really up in arms about, and what they perceive is the hypocrisy of the media, is how can members of the media attack Pat Robertson for saying that the US should "take out" Hugo Chavez, and then laugh when Franken says Rove and Libby should be executed? Clearly these conservatives never took logic and critical thinking courses in college, if they had they would have voted for Kerry, and that is the proof in the pudding, but I digress. Let me explain to these idiots (can't think of a better word) the difference, Pat Robertson was calling for the assassinationn of a freely elected head of state because the US doesn't agree with his (disastrous) policies. Al Franken on the other hand was simply pointing out that the law that might have been broken was signed into law by George H. W. Bush, and Bush Sr. stated that outing a CIA agent is treason. Treason is punishable by death under US law, as John Conn learned back in Texas in 1862 (hasn't happened since, and how eerily appropriate). So to set the record straight, Franken was not calling for the assassination of Rove or Libby, he was being funny, and he was spot on.

Al Franken really is a genius, he knew this would get headlines, and his new book The Truth ~with jokes~ has been hovering between #2 and #3 on Amazon.

2005-10-26T17:26:00.000-05:00

Poland's crazy coalition? Dead!?

As reported by Gustav at Warsaw Station, the coalition between the wacky rightwing euro skeptic nuts in the Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc party and the western leaning Platforma Obywatelska reformers has apparently fallen apart. While Gustav indicates that this means that the situation has obviously gone from bad to worse, I, being the eternal optimist, think this is actually a good thing; let PiS fall on its face all by itself. This way PO will have the credibility to actually win outright during the next election, after what will surely be a governmental debacle for the next few years to come.

I also think we'll have a lot of funny moments involving the new Vice-Speaker Andrzej Lepper. How better to lose any credibility with voters then to put a joker like Lepper in a position of, at least implied, power. I always hate to bring up the bogeyman of politics, but I have to remind everyone of how everybody's favorite despotic madman, Adolf Hitler, came to power. Kurt von Schleicher wanted to be Chancellor of Germany, he looked at the Nazi party as a fringe group that could help him get his coveted position. "Schleicher hoped to attain a majority in the Reichstag by forming a so-called Querfront, meaning 'cross-front,' whereby he would unify Germany's fractious special interests around a non-parliamentary, authoritarian but participatory regime."1 We all know what happened next, yada, yada, yada. Clearly I don't think Lepper will be the next Hitler (I am aware of my hypocrisy with using Hitler in the political sphere, as is well documented here, and can be seen watching this clip from the Daily Show with Jon Stewart), but I think every politician should know that even though he thinks that he's smarter then the wacko he wants to take advantage of, he really might be opening a pandora's box by giving the wacko legitimacy.

2005-10-25T17:21:00.000-05:00

"Buvez, mais buvez comme les Polonais" - Napoleon Bonaparte

These famous words were uttered by Napoleon himself, and they mean "Drink, but drink like the Poles". Napoleon was referring to how the Polish legions in his army were able to get hammered, but then be ready bright and early the next morning to march (or fight). I picked up this little tidbit in 1999 while I was in St. Etienne north of Paris. During this time I was traveling through Europe with my college roommate Chris and on this particular night a nice enough Parisian had taken us off the beaten path to this little rock'n'roll bar, and he proceeded to buy us rounds of Wyborowa and Żubrówka shots. We of course spoke little to no French, the Parisian fellow didn't speak much English, but we did learn to say "buvez comme les Polonais". This was back in 1999. I mention this because I had a friend email me a picture of A.J. Pierzynski recently drinking it up at a bar. A.J. is a catcher for the Chicago White Sox, and he always comes ready to play. I know he's undoubtedly Polish at heart because he is just way to controversial not to be. For those worried that maybe he shouldn't be downing shots of Belvedere vodka the night before a game, just remember what Napoleon told his troops.

2005-10-23T23:02:00.000-05:00

The Duck wins

Boy I just keep getting slapped around politically. It started with Bush winning in 2000, it continued with Bush repeating in 2004, and now we have the Duck winning in Poland in 2005. The Duck of course is a Kaczynski brother, don't ask me which one, I could care less, both are about as intellectually stimulating as our very own Dubya. In fact the Kaczynski clones are Dubya-type Poles, religious conservatives who don't understand sound economic principles.

I warned everyone about Bush in 1999, but I'm telling you VERY few people really thought he would be as reckless and corrupt as he is. I knew he would be, but of course everyone thought I was overreacting, the most annoying argument was that of Nader voters who claimed Gore and Bush were basically the same thing. Told you so! But I digress, with the Duck as President of Poland I don't have the same dread, it is a representative role after all, and most of my dread came when PiS won the parliamentary elections. This is more disappointment at my fellow countrymen, who once again are getting hoodwinked by religion posing in politics.

As for that representative role, it's a little to bad that the Duck resembles a troll, but I guess Poles wanted an ugly leader after having the good looks of Kwasniewski for so long. The bright side of all this is that the other Duck clone probably won't become the premier, it would be a little confusing for people like me. Yet you never know.

2005-10-22T11:01:00.000-05:00

Freddy Adu is a little, whiny biatch

I was thinking of going to the Chicago Fire playoff game against DC United yesterday, am I glad I didn't! 0-0 draw, which of course was marred by terrible officiating (for those that want to, you can watch MLS games live on the net for free through Mlsnet.com). The big story was of course that soccer phenom Freddy Adu watched the game in street clothes from a skybox. Why was Freddy not playing? Because he bitched like a little primadona about not getting enough playing time, and he thinks that is why he likely won't take part in the 2006 World Cup, I believe he said "I'm screwed". Let me give you a little advice Freddy, to start with you have been averaging 60 minutes a game, and you have played in every game you were available for this season. On top of that, you're not as good as the guys actually starting ahead of you. When you start, you take a better players spot. See, if you were better you would have shown it the way all better young players have in the past, such as Michael Owen or Wayne Rooney. Owen and Rooney lit up the league when they came on as subs and they quickly got starts because they were better. You're not better, yet. Yes, your goal of the week was pretty cool, but that was because of the artificial turf, and you've scored a whopping four this season. Score ten coming on as a sub and I guarantee you that you'll start every game. Now stop your bitching.

2005-10-17T11:57:00.000-05:00

I had a dream, and Harriet Miers was in it

This is a little weird, because this morning when I woke up I was SURE Harriet Miers had pulled herself out of the running as a Supreme Court nominee. This can only mean one of two things 1) I have really lame dreams or 2) I can forsee the future! So let's see what happens, because if I did dream it, and it happens, then I'll be a little freaked out about the whole thing. I'll also pay more attention to the lotto numbers that dance in front of my eyes at night. Oh, and congrats to the White Sox, I picked them in six, they won in five. I'm a Cubs fan, but if the White Sox win and actually draw some fair weather fans which have been flooding the gates of Wrigler, then we might have a real rivalry in Chicago.

2005-10-16T13:35:00.000-05:00

Pinteresque

The Swedish academy awarded Harold Pinter the Nobel Prize in literature for it is he "who in his plays uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression's closed rooms".

Sounds just like in our canteen at work!

2005-10-12T23:25:00.000-05:00

David Gray in Chicago was almost rocking

"and go fuck yourself!!!!!" said my wife. Jokingly of course, she says it all the time. Can David Gray rock out? I mean it's Babylon this and I Act a Little Strange that, but is it really rocking? And yes, I did not start this paragraph with a proper topic statement, I always hated topic statements, I didn't use a capital letter to start the sentence either, grammar police, but I digress. I was surrounded by approximately 9 women at the concert, young and old; I thought I was at a Tom Jones concert. I saw a guy I knew named Jeff, the guy split as soon as he saw me, probably embarrassed to be seen at this chick fest. At one point I was expecting streams of panties to be thrown onto the stage as David belted out yet another love melody, all I heard around me was "oh, I love this song!" The greatest part was looking at the men in the room, I knew most of them probably liked David, but next to other guys it may have seemed a little whimpish to belt out "No, it ain't love guiding me". Me on the other hand, I'm a little more secure in my manliness, I'm okay with looking like a pussy. I was singing along to every tune I knew, because what these insecure fellows couldn't grasp was that David was singing these tunes, and the chicks dig him! So being a pussy is okay, at David Gray concerts. This wasn't an Alanis Morissette concert, if you started singing "It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid", that would be uncool, and you would be a pussy, and it wouldn't be okay. David Gray is a guy though, so we get more freedom with that. Plus, he was rocking on Babylon, really. After the show I asked my wife who she thought was better in concert, Knopfler who we had just seen recently, or David Gray, she scoffed at me and said "Knopfler of course, no comparison", and then she added "now go fuck yourself!"

2005-10-11T14:31:00.000-05:00

Krzysztof Bosak is an idiot

This little pimple faced thug, who also happens to be the youngest member of the Polish parliament, is nothing more than a "dresowiec", a Polish wannabe gangster, or a hooligan. I got wind of this worthless piece of garbage from Beatroot, if ever someone needed a kick in his smug face it would be this asswipe. He was part of the egg and stone throwing counter-demonstrators to the Tolerance Parade in Warsaw. What kind of an idiot would counter-demonstrate a Tolerance Parade? Idiot! (in the voice of Napoleon Dynamite) Maybe he wouldn't be such a pathetic loser if he wasn't an 'idiot savant' without the 'savant' part. I've seen these pieces of shit in Poland, they all look like this kid, they all have that "I'm really fucking stupid" look on their faces, and they don't remember whose side Poland fought on in WWII.

I would ask that everyone spam and flame this twat, I got the following info from gaylife.pl which coincidentally has an article with a list of Polish homophobes (great idea BTW), Bosak made the list.

Krzysztof Bosak
Sekretarz Młodzieży Wszechpolskiej
telephone: 0 508 101 026
e-mail: 5x5@wp.pl

2005-10-10T19:41:00.000-05:00

Question and Answer session:

Q: You stated that Cheney would get a staph infection, after getting everyones hopes up, it turns out he is ok.

A: Karma has decided to keep Cheney alive long enough to see Scooter Libby behind bars, after which he'll have a staph infection. Hey, I'm not the Karma police, that's how Karma wants it, that's how it'll be.

Q: Who hates Gays more, the American right wing politicians or the Polish right wing politicians?

A: This is an easy one! Polish politicos of course! American right wing wackos even have lesbian daughters (see Dick Cheney), American right wing wack jobs are all talk, trying to get the stupid vote, while the Polish right wing politicians really DO hate gays.

Q: Did legalizing gay marriage in Sweden destroy the rate at which couples got married in Sweden?

A: Stop watching that idiot O'Reilly, please, oh please, he REALLY, REALLY, REALLY is a complete fucking moron. And when did Sweden legalize gay marriage, wasn't it civil unions?

Q: Are you asking yourself these questions?

A: Who wants to know?

Q: You were SO RIGHT about Tatum Bell!

A: Damn straight.

Q: Where do you get your pictures?

A: I steal most of them, and rarely do I give anyone credit. So sue me! (Um, I'm just joking, don't sue me, just write me a nasty letter including cease and desist language)

Q: Where did you steal the image to the right?

A: http://www.coe.nitech.ac.jp/ and it's meant to suck!

Q: Whatever happened to the shoes in your hallway?

A: Gone! Except for like a pair, I don't get it, just keep ALL of your damn shoes in your place, is that so hard?

Q: Could a drunk Bush do any worse then a sober Bush?

A: See, it wasn't really a question, I was just trying to... oh forget it, the answer is no.

Q: Who wins this week, Poland or England? Sweden or Iceland? Angels or White Sox?

A: Poland 2:0, Sweden 3:0, White Sox in six.

2005-10-08T07:52:00.000-05:00

Norwegian contributions to the world....?

Once again the Norwegian Nobel committee has made it's choice, and this year it fell on the IAEA. Scandinavian media interprets the decision in their usual fashion: It's to be regarded as criticism towards the Bush administration. Perhaps they are right about the committee's intentions this time.

Without a doubt, the IAEA has an important mission as the supervisor of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty . But, are IAEA and Mohamed ElBaradei - as discussed every year - worthy of the prize? Sure, the IAEA has been working hard, but when faced with its greatest task ever - Iraq - it failed miserably. What will happen in Iran and North Korea is too early to say, but one thing is certain, IAEA has not succeeded. So, will this affect the US unilateralism on nuclear talks with Iran and North Korea? Nooooo... Is that the effect that the committee looking for? Yesssss...

Why do I find it funny that Karl Rove is of Norwegian descent?

2005-10-06T15:47:00.000-05:00

The Eagle has landed, Brandmeier back at Loop on Oct. 24th

Several unreliable sources have confirmed that the Eagle has landed, I repeat, the Eagle HAS landed. An announcement is expected the week of Oct. 10, 2005. Jonathon Brandmeier has come to terms with Emmis Communications and Infinity Broadcasting, according to these very unreliable sources the multi-year deal is one of the most lucrative in the history of Chicago radio. If this turns out to be true I have to give my sources a years supply of Wheel of Meat prizes, while if they are wrong they will have to spend three days with Cumswalla.

Brandmeier was the king of Chicago radio in the 1980' s and early '90's. His longtime sidekick Buzz Kilman has been lounging with a large whale for a bit now, and hopefully will dump the Fat One and return to the Showgram.

UPDATE OCTOBER 7, 2005: According to a Robert Feder column appearing today in the Chicago Sun-Times, Brandmeier is slated to be back on the air on Oct. 27, 2005 as soon as he signs on the dotted line. The deal is indeed multi-year, spanning a little over three years. Feder also claims the announcement is to come "as early as Monday", which I nailed right on the head. It would appear that my sources got it pretty close on this one (three days off on the start date), so I now owe them a years supply of raccoon meat and headcheese, along with coto salami, and pig snouts.

2005-10-05T22:19:00.000-05:00

Belarus! Belarus!

We love Belarus! Man, has anyone ever read the English language versions of the Russian Pravda? Well, I was reading an article in Pravda about the announcement that Alexander Milinkevich would be the opposition to Alexander Lukashenko in the next presidential elections. Pravda claims Milinkevich leans towards Poland because his ancestors took part in Polish rebellion against Russia in 1863. Wow! Is that a reach or what? Man, I'd like to find an American senator who had ancestors who had slaves in the south, and then I'll say the guy is clearly against civil rights and for segregation. Clearly any opposition candidate to Lukashenko will lean towards the west and Poland happens to be right smack dab west of Belarus. I still found the argument funny, I had never heard of anyone using the actions of what an ancestor did 150 years ago as proof of anything today.

Poor, poor Belarus. I don't feel sorry for them, (except those getting cracked down on) I blame the Belarussians for the predicament they are in. They voted for this asshole, they got democracy and then voted for a guy that looks like Gomez from the Addams family, mixed in with some Stalin and a sprinkle of Hitler.

2005-10-05T21:58:00.000-05:00

Poles Must Keep us Straight!

Poland's Law and Justice party candidate for prime minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, in an interview appearing in the Polish edition of Newsweek magazine, responded to a question asking whether homosexuality should be denounced. "It is unnatural," he said. "The family is natural, and the state must stand guard over the family."

Oh great, we get a Polish political candidate talking about homosexuals. Did you know 39% of Poles still believe that Jews killed Christ? Yeah, that's right, not the Romans, the Jews. So it's not surprising that in this overtly Catholic nation you would have idiots saying what the potential premier said, but come on, I wish we wouldn't have a homophobe as Polands next prime minister. This sucks.

2005-10-03T13:02:00.000-05:00

Bush nominates crony

Finally we get a REAL Bush nominee, yey! The Roberts nomination made it seem like the guy may have an insy bit of respect for the US judicial system, but nominating someone who has never been a judge like Harriet Miers smells of the cesspool of cronyism and corruptness that we have all had to wade through since the beginning of Bush's reign of terror. All is right with the world afterall. This is great! I love it! I just didn't think Bush had the balls to do it, actually I did think he had the balls to do it, I just didn't know whether he had the evil of the "evildoers" to do it. Now I know, all is right with the world again, we can go to bed feeling we're run by an incompetent dunce again.

2005-09-30T14:20:00.000-05:00

Call me crazy and start Tatum Bell!

Yes, that's right, start Tatum Bell this weekend! You know you drafted him 4 rounds to early, or did you? Three years ago I had a certain Clinton Portis who sat waiting for his chance to shine behind worthless Mike Anderson. Well maybe not worthless, but you throw Ron Dayne in for 20 carries in a system like Denvers against the Chiefs and I bet you he would have run off more than 98 yards. Anderson only managed 54 yards on 19 carries if you take away his 44 yard jaunt into the end zone, that's only a 2.8 yard per carry average, that sucks. Now take Tatum Bell, he had five carries for 47 yards, a 9.4 yard average. "What about the long run he had?" Okay, take away Tatum's 24 yard run, he was still averaging 5.75 yards per carry. What does this mean? It means Mike Anderson is going to get stuffed early and often this weekend against the Jags. Mike Shanahan will pull the bastard, or he'll get injured, and in will come Tatum Bell, and he will finish the game, he will get a TD, and he will become Denvers starting RB. No more RBBC bullshit.

I know the prognosticators are saying that you shouldn't start anyone from Denver against the Jags run D, but trust me, when Mike Anderson gets stuffed he'll be pulled for Bell, and if Bell is any good he'll be in for the rest of the game. You do think Bell will make the most of his opportunity, don't you? I mean why else would you draft the guy in the third round you moron! If he sucks you'll see Ron Dayne on the field, no good can come of that. Tatum Bell is the most talented back they have, and Shanahan, as much as every Fantasy owner hates him, always ends up using the best back.

2005-09-28T16:40:00.000-05:00

Want to buy some nice artwork for those barren walls?

Or maybe they're not barren, maybe they have a Guinness beer sign, or a poster of something, you know, like everyone else. You might even have a poster of a nice famous painting, maybe a Van Gogh or a Monet, but don't you want some real paintings on those walls? The reason I ask is because I did for a long time, but every time I saw something on a wall hanging at some joint, even if I thought it sucked, it was for like $500. Who would spend $500 on crap like that? So then I looked online for some guides to buying art, all I found was that cheap art is under $1000. That's not cheap.

I decided to check out some art galleries, and I found one in Chicago called the Framing Gallery in Lincoln Square, which sells original oil paintings in frames for $280+. Now I thought that was really cheap, and some of them were real nice and I was ready to splurge to buy a painting, but the owner couldn't tell me anything at all about any of the artists, having recently purchased the gallery. My fear of course was that I'd end up buying something like a Thomas Kinkade, some mass produced gaudy piece of crap that morons overpay for. So then I went to an antique mall with my wife, and we saw some nice paintings, we bought one, them we went to another place and bought another, next day we headed for a new antique place, bought a third one. Three paintings for around $300. One from 1930 (to the right), one from the 50's-60's (not pictured) and a third one from who knows (pictured up top)? All three paintings are nicer and feel more like real art then anything new hanging on a wall at a restaurant. All three are genuine oil, the oldest from 1930 is of a sailboat on Lake Michigan, on the back of the painting the artist titled it "Voyage Home" (or maybe
"Return Voyage" I can't remember). It turns out one painting is by a painter named Burnett (not pictured yet). Burnett painted Paris cityscapes, I've seen his paintings go for $150-$1,000+, it seems he painted a lot of Moulin Rouge, the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame Cathedral, I'm happy to say our painting is none of those, but if anyone knows what street it is of (as soon as I post an image of it) I will be grateful.

Our fourth painting purchase was on Ebay. It was the most fearsome, but ultimately the best of the four. The painting is of the canal of Nyhavn in Copenhagen, a place coincidentally, where my wife and I had some great herring, it is more famous as the place where Hans Christian Anderson lived. The painting is by Ove Svenson, I've looked at his paintings and I really like his style. Let me know if you like it.

2005-09-23T11:53:00.000-05:00

Image stolen from http://www.shortfatguy.com/blog.php

This is a little mean and I apologize ahead of time, but Cheney will have complications with his knee aneurysm surgery planned for this Saturday. How do I know? Two things, first he has really bad karma, the man is a walking karma time bomb. On top of that the guy is clearly not a healthy individual, you would think if you had three heart attacks you would cut down on Angus steak consumption, but not this guy. He shakes his fists at God and thinks that whatever he breaks in his body will get fixed by the doctors, well not so fatso. Sooner or later, if you have as many operations as this asshole, you have to run into a major complication. With any luck it'll kill the bastard, or will it be luck? You see, Bush has to put someone into Cheney's place soon, or else who can he handpick to be his successor in '08? You heard it here first, Cheney will step down sooner or later because of health issues, or Dubya will off him with a staph infection, either way Cheney won't be the VP for long.

2005-09-22T14:51:00.000-05:00

Could a drunk Bush do any worse then a sober Bush?

Bush is hitting the liquor cabinet again, just like when he was a teenager, or a Yale student, or an oil industry insider, or an owner of the Texas Rangers, well you get the picture. Here is the article if you want to find out more. It's based on an Enquirer report, but as far as things ringing true or hollow, this one is no doubt about it true. I also think the Enquirer is a bit more careful when it comes to Dubya, you don't want to get sued for libel by the leader of the free world.

So does this surprise anyone? If anyone has ever been to an AA or NA meeting, everyone knows you're an alcoholic forever. Dubya was, is and always will be an alcoholic, he may have been a recovering alcoholic after he "found" the Church, but now he is back to being the miserable drunk he has always been.

You know how Dubya always makes it seem like he has this "strong" character? What a bunch of bullshit, drunks don't have strong character. If they had strong character they wouldn't be drunks, now would they? They would overcome their desire or need for the booze, or they could do what most people do, drink responsibly. I mean the problem with Dubya isn't that he'll drink a shot of Wild Turkey, it's that he'll drink the whole bottle after he takes that shot.

Now the real question is this: are you scared, happy or disappointed? I'm sure the 74% of republicans who still feel Bush is doing a "good" job would say "silly" and claim it isn't true (but how about those 16% of Democrats who think he is doing a good job, that's bullshit if I ever heard it in any poll, no Democrat feels Bush is doing a good job, they don't fucking EXIST!!!), but I don't care about those nitwits. My guess is Liberals will mostly say "scared! Look who has the finger on the nuclear button", but that's bullshit. I know Bush is going to be kept away from the public during his drunkenness, but could a drunk Bush do any worse then a sober Bush? I don't think so. So the REAL feeling is happiness, this hollow, shallow, miserable, worthless piece of crap we have for a President is finally hitting rock bottom. We have our redemption, what we said would happen HAS happened (how about those assholes in 2000 that said "well, Gore and Bush are like, the same, so I'm going to vote for Nader", I almost got into fistfights over that), now we can have a little solace while watching the country fall apart.

2005-09-22T14:24:00.000-05:00

"Sorry to have not posted for so long"

I've noticed a disturbing trend on peoples websites or blogs, it's the "Sorry to have not updated my site in so long, but I'll get to it" language. The problem here is that these people actually think someone CARES whether they have been up to date on the website or blog they keep. So let me enlighten them, no one cares!!! The biggest problem with this statement is that it is a lie, we know the damn website or blog won't get updated because the statement was written in February of 2003 or something. Or it's a blog, and you can see that someone diligently made entries everyday, then the person starts apologizing for missing a few days (am I missing something? what rule states you MUST write something in your blog everyday?), the days turn into weeks, months, and now we see the last entry was a year ago. So I won't treat anyone to the same indignity, when I get tired of this shit I'll stop and I won't utter a word when I return about how "sorry" I am to have missed a week.

Oh, and sorry for not posting anything for a few days. Sike! (has that word left our common vernacular? It was VERY popular in my High School days, but it usually involved punching)

2005-09-19T18:59:00.000-05:00

Odd thing happened this weekend, it's around 2 a.m. on saturday night (sunday morning), I've had my three beers (maybe four) and I'm soundly sleeping when I get awoken to the sound of thumping on the roof. Since my ass got woken up, I decide to investigate, I open my door and check the opening onto the roof, it's open. I go back inside, put on something decent, I'm talking to myself at this point saying incongruent things like "some fucking sons of bitches, what the fuck, I'm trying to fucking sleep, god damn it", you get the picture. So I get my ass on the ladder and get my ass onto the roof ready to let loose with some choice words. I get up there and I see a resident making out with some chick, I hesitated at this point because this was going to be a major cock-block, but then I thought back to my buddy Chris who gets cock-blocking medals and decided to speak: "Um, first off, you can't just be coming on the roof" this startled them, but I wasn't done, "and second of all, you woke me up." With these choice words I got my ass down the ladder, scratching my right leg, and I got into my place. Soon after I heard the bumps and scrapes of the roof entrance being closed. Another night of excitement put to bed.

2005-09-19T13:27:00.000-05:00

I rule at Fantasy Football, I just buried my friend Dan by about 40 points this week, he still has Joe Horn to go but for all intents and purposes, it's over. I finally feel good about my team. I haven't felt good about my team in well over two years. I joined up to play Fantasy Football in 2002, and my first year was a success, I won the championship. I did the unprecedented task of repeating a year later. As all champions know, if you win a championship you have no place to go but down, and in my third year I suffered a humiliating season wherein I ended up a spot before last, not making the playoffs. My first season I was dominant and felt good about my team every week, my second season I hovered above .500 hundred and worried whether I'd make the playoffs before making some waiver wire pickups at seasons end that smashed my opponents. My third year was forgetable and I worried over my useless team every week. But this year? This year I'm good, I'm money baby! Bring 'em on! I lost my first game, but I was calm, one TD from TO and I would have won, and that TD was probable, and I was without my tight end Antonio Gates. This week my RB's did nothing, combing for less than 10 points, but the rest of my team was dominant. Once McGahee starts running like he can I'll be a like a runaway tank, no, I'm not worried about this season. It'll be fun.

2005-09-16T15:05:00.000-05:00

I was just thinking how Steve Dahl ruined Mark Knopfler's Golden Heart album for me by saying on the air that he liked it. Isn't that awful? I dislike a man so much that he can ruin an entire album for me, and what in the hell was I doing listening to that whale for anyways?

For those that don't remember, Steve Dahl used to be cool. He authored the infamous Disco Demolition Night in Chicago, if only I could have been there! Actually, when I think about it, I was only two at the time, so it would have sucked for me and I probably would have shit my diapers, but I digress. Steve had a show with Gary Meier, it was called (you guessed it!) Steve & Gary, and it was really funny because Steve was always drunk and he was actually funny when he was wasted off his ass. He then decided to sober up, put on a couple hundred pounds and suck up the afternoons in Chicago.

This was during my high school days, the days when radio was cool, I am referring to the early 90's. We had JB, Kevin Mathews, Steve & Gary, it was good. Now radio sucks. I have NO ONE to listen to in the mornings. At least at noon I have Al Franken, but what about mornings? Mancow is and always has been a fraud, I never cared for Howard Stern (slapping a stripper on the ass with a fish, okay, so that was funny), Mike North is stupid, Jerry Springer is AWFUL, it's all bad. I've resorted to NPR, but give me JB! Once again, I digress.

The point I was making was, I think, that some people can ruin a good thing by being people you hate. The following people ruin all sorts of things for me: Dubya ruins America for me, Limbaugh ruins good debate, Dusty Baker (I hate that piece of crap) makes it impossible for me to root for the Cubbies, Barry Bonds made me hate the achievements of Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire, and of course that rotten Edward Moskal made the PNA dead to me.

2005-09-16T08:09:00.000-05:00

Get Your Damn Shoes Out of the Hallway!

So I live in a Condominium and we have our assessments due the same day each month. In the past 14 months I have been late by one day twice, but nonetheless I get this bullshit late fee, which under the "rules" I deserve. The guy that doles out the late fees is my next door neighbor and acts as if he is a "friend", he is pretty damn anal about it all. Though I have to question whether a "friend" shouldn't first come up to you and say "hey, come up with the assessment money or I have to give you a late fee under these damn rules". So I guess he isn't a friend, I would never give MY friend a late fee.

The beauty of the whole thing is that this guy is breaking the rules himself, you see his front door is barricaded by what has become his personal shoe closet. It's really a hallway, but he acts like it's an IKEA wardrobe for shoes. He has a chair, a big ole rubber mat, and not less then ten pairs of shoes on that damn mat. Granted, I don't really give a damn what people put out in front of the units, but a shitload of shoes? Plus it really pisses my wife off. To boot (pun intended) it is against the rules of the condo we live in. So since my "friend" feels it is okay to dole out late fees for being one day late I feel okay with what I'm going to do. I'm going to do the same thing he does to me every time I'm late with an assessment, I'm going to slip a note under his door, it's going to say "Get Your Damn Shoes Out of the Hallway!" Then I'll throw in a fee for breaking the Condo rules. How do you like them apples?

2005-09-15T18:17:00.000-05:00

Bush Junior and Senior finally arrive on location in New Orleans

I'm sure this is all over the net but I think it is damn funny. What kind of fish is that BTW?

2005-09-15T16:46:00.000-05:00

Lenin reincarnated?

I have a cat, his name is Lenin, and he looks like the former communist dictator to boot. What do you think?

2005-09-15T15:48:00.000-05:00

I'm curious, as I'm sure most of you are NOT, whether Jonathon Brandmeier, also known as Johnny B and most recently heard out in LaLa land, will finally get his ass BACK to Chi-town. Rumor has it he will be on WLUP 97.9, the station from his heyday. That would be nice, I'm waiting for the eagle to land, but while you're waiting check out Johnny B's site, it has to suffice before he returns. Oh, and will Buzz dump the fat whale and return to Johnny's show?

2005-09-15T14:08:00.000-05:00

The one thing I have figured out from the confirmation hearings is that Roberts is an executive branch proponent, not a conservative ideologue (or so I hope). For example, I was listening to NPR and they mentioned that Roberts was tapped to help argue Clinton's case in front of the Supreme Court. You may remember that the question was whether Paula Jones could pursue her civil suit while Clinton was an acting President. Roberts representation didn't end up happening (through no fault of his own according to NPR), but the fact that anyone termed a "conservative" would want to represent Clinton in such a high profile case indicates to me that he is mostly interested in preserving the power of the executive branch and not in pursuing some conservative agenda, and that would be a good thing, unless of course your greatest fear is of an overly powerful executive branch.

2005-09-13T14:58:00.000-05:00

Finally the Poles are getting some players into some respected leagues. Some of you may know that one of Poland's starting strikers in the 2002 World Cup was Pawel Kryszalowicz, a guy who was playing for a second division German team. Poland is doing slightly better, now we have Grzegorz Rasiak who has unexpectedly moved to Tottenham to help the Spurs, and Maciej Zurawski who now plays for Celtic and will hopefully enjoy some success. Poland also has two goalkeepers in the Isles, Boruc who along with "Magic" Zurawski plays for Celtic and Jerzy Dudek, who helped Liverpool to the European championship last year. Of course we also have Kamil Kosowski who plays for a 2nd Division side Southampton, Frankowski who made an awful move from Polish champion Wisla to perennial 2nd division La Liga team Elche. I have to maintain that I feel better about Poland in 2006 then I did in 2002. Now all that needs to be done is a sound defeat of England in Wembley, easier said than done.