Saturday's Honduras - US soccer game was only showed on PPV in the States, so I had to find a bar in Durham called "The Honduras Restaurant" to see the game. Taqueria trucks outside the venue, disco music pre-gaming, $20 cover, Honduran jerseys everywhere. There were also a few idiot American fans being obnoxious and wearing over-the-top USA poof hats. Not a pretty scene.
Anyways, The Honduras Restaurant doubles as a strip joint on other nights. But for Saturday, it was packed with raucous Hondurans singin all their songs. I went with a Honduran friend of mine (good idea in retrospect) for protection, but I didn't need it. Among all the Latin countries, the Hondurans give a lot of respect. There's no animosity there. Example: if I spoke Spanish to a Honduran, he'd generally be surprised and buy me a beer. I can't say that spirit of soccer brotherhood exists among other Latino countries (as far as soccer is concerned).
World Cup Draws happen on December 4th. Anyone want to road trip to South Africa? I'm getting pumped up, especially if Holden and Davies keep getting PT.
On another note, go here: http://soccerpolitics.com/. A Durham - based blog, etc. on ....well... soccer and politics.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Sagan Rules
I can't help but post this from Under Observation
Carl Sagan: "If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe."
Awesome
Carl Sagan: "If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe."
Awesome
I'm Back
I've been in grad school reclusion for the past 2 months without realizing it. Last weekend I traveled outside Durham for the first time since starting school, and tonight I went to Chapel Hill for an Andrew Bird concert (see video below). The experiences were as eye-opening as going to a foreign country... "you mean there's life outside of Durham?" Yes, I had forgotten this. No more.
Some quick observations:
- I like Chapel Hill a lot. For a college town, it's pretty classy.
- I need 8 hours of sleep a night. 7.5 might cut it, but my brainpower decreases severely in a downward stepwise manner below 7.5 hours.
- Klondike ice cream bars are a delicious treat
- Should I be going to more "corporate presentations" that recruiters have? I've gone to one so far - for the FBI's management program (which was actually really cool). However, I choose not to go to things like the Johnson & Johnson networking night or the "Beyond CPG" symposium. Should I? The herd definitely moves toward these things, but I prefer to travel elsewhere. It's actually quite satisfying to see my classmates in their smart business casual schmoozing at the various networking nights while I'm wearing a jeans and t-shirt. Of course, they will have jobs in 2 years, and I will not. A willing tradeoff on my part.
- I camped out for Duke basketball tickets (basically involved 48 hours of no sleep) and ended up getting tickets to half of the home games, and I will not campout again next year. My aforementioned affinity for sleep is too powerful.
- There are three taco vans (one is a converted school bus) that roam my neighborhood at late hours. Excellent.
- Two phenomenal filmmakers: Gus Van Sant and Steven Soderbergh. I recently watched Soderbergh's latest, The Girlfriend Experience. I need to give it another watch, but my first take was a truly brilliant movie. Much of the movie chronicles - in a deadpan, honest way - inane conversations that we have with one another. I was blown away by how familiar these conversations were to me, while at the same time understood that Soderbergh was lambasting these very conversations. Make sense? Just go see the movie... it's worth it.
I'm the student team leader of a trip of 30 students and one professor to SE Asia (Singapore, Vietnam, and Bangkok) for 12 days in March. Lots of responsibility, but it's exactly what I want to be doing.
That's it for now. Klondike bar, Andrew Bird, then 8 hours of sleep. Life should always be so perfect.
Some quick observations:
- I like Chapel Hill a lot. For a college town, it's pretty classy.
- I need 8 hours of sleep a night. 7.5 might cut it, but my brainpower decreases severely in a downward stepwise manner below 7.5 hours.
- Klondike ice cream bars are a delicious treat
- Should I be going to more "corporate presentations" that recruiters have? I've gone to one so far - for the FBI's management program (which was actually really cool). However, I choose not to go to things like the Johnson & Johnson networking night or the "Beyond CPG" symposium. Should I? The herd definitely moves toward these things, but I prefer to travel elsewhere. It's actually quite satisfying to see my classmates in their smart business casual schmoozing at the various networking nights while I'm wearing a jeans and t-shirt. Of course, they will have jobs in 2 years, and I will not. A willing tradeoff on my part.
- I camped out for Duke basketball tickets (basically involved 48 hours of no sleep) and ended up getting tickets to half of the home games, and I will not campout again next year. My aforementioned affinity for sleep is too powerful.
- There are three taco vans (one is a converted school bus) that roam my neighborhood at late hours. Excellent.
- Two phenomenal filmmakers: Gus Van Sant and Steven Soderbergh. I recently watched Soderbergh's latest, The Girlfriend Experience. I need to give it another watch, but my first take was a truly brilliant movie. Much of the movie chronicles - in a deadpan, honest way - inane conversations that we have with one another. I was blown away by how familiar these conversations were to me, while at the same time understood that Soderbergh was lambasting these very conversations. Make sense? Just go see the movie... it's worth it.
I'm the student team leader of a trip of 30 students and one professor to SE Asia (Singapore, Vietnam, and Bangkok) for 12 days in March. Lots of responsibility, but it's exactly what I want to be doing.
That's it for now. Klondike bar, Andrew Bird, then 8 hours of sleep. Life should always be so perfect.
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