a defence of england

I have an English friend who isn't such a big fan of her country and can't understand why I like it so much. So I've decided to condense all of my reasons into a blog post.

I am not an aficionado of all things English. I know England has its fair share of not-so-great stuff; I am not an Anglophile because of the chavs, or the sensational fear-mongering tabloid stories, or the reality television, or the former imperialism, or because I think the monarchy is an awesome idea and Prince William is a hottie. He's not.

However, because of my interests and personality, in my opinion the good things of Britain's past and present far outweigh the bad. And the best of England appeals more to me than the best of the US.

So here's a random list of things I grew up with or discovered in my teens that really made me fall in love with the culture and the country.

• The Beatles
• Fawlty Towers
• Pride and Prejudice
• The Importance of Being Earnest
• Mary Stewart
• Danger: UXB
  
• Shakespeare
• Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie
• Robin Hood
• The Kinks
• Lyra's Oxford
• Arsenal
• 60's Mod fashion
• Sherlock Holmes
• Nick Hornby
• Extras
  
• Blake, Shelley, Byron, other Romantic poets
• The Clash
• Margot Fonteyn
• Oliver Sacks
• Harry Potter
• Wimbledon
• Henry Cavill
  
• Bill Bryson

(Yes, the last one is American, but he is an Anglophile like me, and the way he writes about England makes it seem like a very funny yet awesome place to live. Which it is.)

I'm sure there are tons I am forgetting, but really. You can't say that a country that has produced all of these things isn't awesome.

apparently i like funny guys

I think I'm developing a thing for Joel McHale.

Of course I've always found him hilarious on The Soup, but I don't see it that often because I don't watch reality tv so I don't know what he's talking about half the time. Plus it's on past my bedtime.

But I finally started watching Community-which I had no idea he was in until tonight-and I've realized I'm a little bit in love. Something about the sarcasm mixed with the intelligence mixed with the arrogance is appealing to me. And don't ask me why I think arrogance is an attractive trait because I don't really know. Humility just kind of annoys me sometimes.

Plus, who knew he was so tall? You only see him from the torso up in The Soup so I always thought he was short, but he and Chevy Chase look like they're the same height! I'd be willing to overlook the light hair for that.

Am I crazy for thinking it or am I crazy for just now noticing?

the starbucks or the starbucks or the starbucks...

I saw this for the first time yesterday and split my sides laughing. I don't live in Arlington, but I'm not far from it and I know lots of people from there, and truer words have never been spoken (or rapped, I guess) about a place.



EDIT: I just found the Fairfax response!



Ooh, it's on now! (Although the Arlington one is better...sorry Funfax.)



Mmmm, bulgogi.

help!

I am thinking of getting a new Arsenal shirt (I feel like I just got one, but oh well. I have an obsession and a money spending problem) but I can't decide which name to get on the back. I love them all so much and this feels like I'm picking favorites! So I need input.

poll by twiigs.com

tuesday night insanity

There are tons of things I should be writing about, like the wonderful 6-2 drubbing of Blackburn at the weekend, the beginning of hockey season and the awesome start that the Caps have had, or possibly even the reign of Napoleon for my French class.

Instead, I mark my brief return to the blogosphere by penning this masterpiece.


Lucy and I were talking this evening about football and Harry Potter (as we do) and the two subjects started to mix. The discussion started with Thomas Vermaelen clearly being a Slytherin. Not because he is evil (on the contrary, he is wonderful and amazing and full of so much win...wow, I'm pretty sure this infatuation is not going to go away anytime soon) but because he is pale and slightly vampire-esque and sticks his tongue out a lot like a snake. He just has a very Slytheriny vibe.

So we started sorting other footballers into houses, and this is what we came up with (side note: I was watching a replay of Saturday's Arsenal game, so a lot of these happen to be Gunners)...

Gryffindor [Head of house = Pep Guardiola]:

Thierry Henry
Cesc Fàbregas
Robin van Persie (although he could potentially be in Ravenclaw too...he's a smart guy)
Steven Gerrard
Theo Walcott
Raúl Gonzalez
Andres Iniesta
Alex Song (specifically Neville Longbottom. He used to be pretty hopeless, but he's really started to come into his own. Perhaps one day he will help to bring down Voldemort's army AKA Manchester United, OBV.)

Hufflepuff [Head of house = Guti AKA Professor Lockhart]:

Gonzalo Higuain
Vedran Ćorluka
Nicklas Bendtner
Manuel Almunia
Aaron Ramsey
Lukasz Podolski
Lionel Messi
David Beckham (Lucy tried her hardest to put him into Gryffindor, but I won't allow it because he was a ManUre player.)

Ravenclaw [Head of house = Arsène Wenger]:

Dennis Bergkamp
Niko Kranjčar
Iker Casillas
Fernando Torres
Xabi Alonso
Bojan Krkic

This house is pretty sparse...there aren't too many bright footballers around, are there?

Slytherin [Head of house = Sir Alex Ferguson]:

Thomas Vermaelen
Cristiano Ronaldo
Wayne Rooney
...actually, all ManUre players.
Didier Drogba
Michael Ballack
...actually, all Chelski players too.
Torsten Frings
Bastian Schweinsteiger
Oliver Kahn
...and pretty much all Germans (especially the ones in the 2002 World Cup squad.)
Martin Skrtel
Karim Benzema
Vito Mannone
Alvaro Arbeloa
Artur Boruc
Gerard Pique
Carles Puyol
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Esteban Granero
Emmanuel Adebayor (Wormtail: used to be on the good side, but has gone very, very bad.)
All Italians (I know Steph will be happy about this one, being a Slytherin herself.)
Michael Owen (Lucy has dubbed him He Who Must Not Be Named, so clearly he's Voldy.)

Yeah so we put a lot of people in Slytherin. Like I said, not all of them are bad, some just have the right characteristics. But some really are evil, i.e. Drogba, Adebayor, and Ballack.


To borrow a phrase from my World Regions prof, I should really stop drinking. Good night, folks.

fellow potterheads know what i'm talking about

As most of you know, I'm a huge nerd. So when July 31st rolls around, I immediately think of Harry Potter.

Happy birthday Harry! According to the original timeline of the book, he is 29 years old today.

It's also J.K. Rowling's birthday (weird coincidence, huh?) so happy birthday to her too!

Speaking of HP, I still haven't seen the sixth movie. I hear it's good, or as good as we can expect the movies to be, so I should watch it eventually.

so i think i can blog?

I have no excuse for the lack of posts. I suck. I swear I'll try to be back and blogging normally soon, but for now I just had to post this. I can't get over this dance. Best thing ever. It seriously gave me chills.

jandj 10 @ Yahoo! Video

The clearer (and shorter) version of the dance is here, but youtube wouldn't let me embed it.

Jason and Jeanine are my two favorites this season and I was so glad when they got paired. They are awesome together.

Mary Murphy is still freaking annoying though.

old school advertisements are better than today's.

For more, go here.

i don't blog like a girl

According to the Gender Genie, I have a male writing style. I tried it four times with different random blog entries, and only one of them came back female. And it's not because I write about sports, because they didn't even highlight those words. Apparently I just sound manly.

It's okay though, because apparently all of the women columnists at The Guardian are also manly. I think their system might be a little flawed.

asinine proverb

I'm feeling very childish tonight. I've been playing with an online anagram generator all evening and giggling at the funny things it spits out.

First of all, my full name can be rearranged into Zealous Hair Radius. Surprisingly, a pretty apt description of my coiffure in the morning.

For those of you who have read Harry Potter, you know that Lord Voldemort got his evil dictator name from an anagram of his given name. Just for kicks, I plugged "Tom Marvolo Riddle" into the generator, and realized that there are so many better things he could have come up with than I Am Lord Voldemort! For example:

Armored Vomit Doll
Volatile Dorm Dorm
Lord Ovoid Trammel
Immoral Veldt Odor
Immortal Odd Lover
Dread Milvolt Moor
Mortal Doom Drivel
Marmot Devil Drool
A Troll Mom Overdid
Overlord Mami Dolt
etc. etc.

These next few are for the bears:
Iker Casillas = Ace Air Skills
Sergio Ramos = Roams Orgies; Orgasm Osier; Roars Egoism
Gonzalo Higuain = Laughing in a Zoo
Bojan Krkic = A Brink Jock
Vedran Corluka = Clear Vodka Run; Cola Rave Drunk
Yoann Gourcuff = A Con Runoff Guy
Vicente Rodriguez = Recognized Virtue; Oviduct Energizer (hee!)
Manchester United = A Stench Unmerited; A Cemented Shit Run

Clearly I have too much time on my hands now that I'm done with all of my coursework for the term.


[P.S. A cookie to whoever can unscramble the anagram in the title!]

stuff i wish i could do, part two

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

I want to be artistic.

sarah, sartre, what's the difference?

Excerpt from my travel journal (actual trip recap to come later):

Paris, 6 March 2009

Friday night in Paris - sitting in Les Deux Magots with a glass of red Bordeaux and a notebook. I'm feeling inspired and philosophical...and like maybe I should go buy a beret.

Yesterday I had a meeting with my Biological Psychology professor to discuss my essay on the mind-body relationship that's due next Thursday. Ever since I learned there was a debate about the relationship, I've known my stance--I firmly believe that what we define as the mind, consciousness, or even the "soul" is a mere product or extension of the physical brain. I don't believe in some higher intangible element of our being that lives on after the body's death.

And not to offend anyone, but I think the main reason people do believe in an eternal soul is that they're scared of dying, of ceasing to exist. Religion began because a) people needed explanations as to how the world worked, and b) people wanted to believe that they would live forever, in some way or another. Now religion has become a tradition--in certain cases (but not all of course), a narrow-minded, bigoted, and prejudiced tradition--and even though science is answering all of these previous unknowns, people don't want to give up their God and their idea of Heaven because they're scared to death of, well, death. Truth be told, I'm scared of death too. Which is why I'm living it up in Paris while I can, I guess!

But back to the mind-body thing for a bit. There are some recent research developments that give evidence to support my claim. They are also totally mind-blowing and slightly disturbing. And super cool, if you're a nerd like me. So basically, fMRI scan technology has advanced to the point where it can quite accurately read people's intentions; effectively, a simple form of "mind reading". One form of experiment is as follows: they stick people in the machine then have them do simple mathematical equations without telling the researcher whether they are adding or subtracting--and based on the machine's readings, the experimenter can then predict what the final number will be. Of course, they can't read thoughts, and the data isn't instantaneous because it still has to be analyzed after it's collected, but the main point is that the most recent tests have shown that the neurons in the brain can start firing almost full seconds before a person is consciously aware of a decision they are going to make.

If this is an accurate depiction of how the mind works, it brings up a pretty scary prospect: free will, as we understand it, doesn't actually exist. We think our conscious mind is deciding something, but if our neurons have made the decision long before we are aware of it, then is it really us doing the deciding? Can we even be held responsible for our decisions? I don't think the excuse "my brain made me do it" would fly in most cases, but it's an interesting thing to think about. Some people say the human brain is incapable of understanding itself. Maybe that's true, because this stuff is blowing my mind...or my brain...or whatever. This type of technology also brings up a whole host of ethical issues, but that's for my Conceptual Issues paper, not my Biopsych paper, so I don't have to think about that until next week.

Well, that was a long and pointless ramble. Maybe there's something in the French air that makes people want to harp on about God and philosophy. Me and Descartes, just like two peas in a pod...

France has made me weird.

Weird, indeed. I just thought I should share.

i'm such a boy

From Lion in Oil, via Kickette: the majority of men would rather see women wearing their favorite football team's shirt in bed than lingerie.

"So while today was the great unveiling of the priorities for men, it was also a sad one for women. Once again the evidence points to men preferring sports over women. Surely the backlash is about to begin."

Hmm...not quite.

1) Football shirts are so much more comfortable than lingerie. I actually do wear an oversized footie shirt to bed.

2) What does it say about me that I see the man's point of view in this situation? I'm certainly guilty of finding guys more attractive if I see that they're wearing an Arsenal jersey, so it's not surprising to me that guys would find the reverse true.

Sports and sex = the perfect combination? I mean, what else do you really need in life?


...like I said, I'm such a guy. I really need to go do that spa day ASAP, before I start spitting and scratching my crotch and drooling over flashy sports cars.

tickled pynk

There's this new(ish) salon in London called PYNK, and they're trying to get their name out by going around to London uni campuses and giving out awesome deals.

So today my friend Allie and I were cornered after class and given this whole spiel about how awesome they are, and call me gullible, but I totally fell for their marketing scheme. It seems worth it though! Here's what I got:

Two vouchers (which cost £60 overall--it was a two-for-one deal) for a 50% off haircut including a professional style consultation, as well as any coloring, highlighting, or this new high-gloss treatment (that will make my hair super shiny for about a month) that I might want. So I get all that for £35.

With these vouchers we also get a free spa day complete with champagne, facial, manicure, hair styling, makeup, and a "magazine style photoshoot" which is a little cheesy, but hey, after the free champagne it might be fun! I have to put a £50 deposit on that one when I book the appointment but I get it back as long as we show up.

We ALSO get a "VIP party service" ticket with free guest list entry to about 20 different London clubs.

So basically, I get a £600 value full spa day plus random extra cool stuff for...£65. I freaking love London.

time wasting on a sunday night

Stolen from ONTD_football:

A) 3 players you like who play for rival teams:
1. Fernando Torres
2. Roque Santa Cruz
3. Pepe Reina

B) A player from a rival team that you would unfunfunfff:
Vedran Corluka

C) The player who got you into football:
Brian McBride

D) 2 players you dislike for club but like for country:
1. Luka Modric
2. Um, Edwin van der Sar? I don’t even really like him for country, but I like the Dutch team overall.

E) A player who you used to like but not anymore:
Niklas Bendtner

F) A relatively unknown player who you are a fan of:
Moritz Volz

G) A player who has grown on you:
Denilson

H) A player you love who has left your club:
Thierry Henry

I) A player you could not stand who has left your club:
Ashley Cole

J) 3 players who you liked for their talent before you considered their looks:
1. Cesc Fabregas (Um, mullet. Enough said.)
2. Thierry Henry
3. Carlos Bocanegra

K) The one player you would 1000000000% put out for:
Cesc Fabregas

L) A player you like who plays in a league you don't follow:
Yoann Gourcuff

M) 3 players who you don't understand the appeal of:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
2. David Beckham
3. Nemanja Vidic

N) A player you like but is disliked by most:
Emmanuel Adebayor

O) The player who you will love unconditionally no matter what:
Cesc Fabregas

Now take the first names you answered for questions A, L, J and play a game of F/M/K!
Fuck: Gourcuff
Marry: Fabregas
Kill: Torres (sorry Nando!)

for gina

My friend Gina had a bit of a bad day yesterday. So I made something to cheer her up. And photobucket sucks, they blocked it for copyright infringement. Lame. Youtube to the rescue!

(Yes, I realize the music and the pictures don't really fit together, style-wise. Just go with it.)



I hope you feel better soon!


Also, the Hottie World Cup quarterfinals are under way. Don't forget to go vote for your favorites!

what would we do without youtube?

I love the random things you can find on the internet.

John Cale of The Velvet Underground on an American game show in 1963:

The second woman asking questions cracked me up. WTF kind of questions were those? This whole thing was just so weird and random and hilarious.

Ingram Hill covering Chris Brown's "With You" in a bright pink studio:

Video description: So, the spirit of Chris Brown took over Phil's body, and he said that we needed to cover "With You." The rest of us were a little unsure, but after Phil suggested we paint the walls pink, we changed our mind. So on a rainy, strangely warm January day, we did all that... even the paint job.

Thom Yorke dancing to M.I.A. in a DJ booth:


The Smiths on a kid's show called Charlie's Bus sometime in the 80's:

One of the strangest clips I have ever seen. So many good things about it: notice Johnny Marr giving some kid the wanker sign at 0:19, Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now being played when the children are going through Kew Gardens, Sandie Shaw singing Jeane to them on the lawn (real uplifting songs there), and Morrissey's constant looks of disdain towards the camera.

"Where are we going?"
"We're all going mad."
"I thought we were going to Kew Gardens!"

What a weird decade.

quick notes

Lots of things have happened over the past few days that I haven't had the time or energy to blog about, so I'm just going to do a quick rundown and stick them all in one post.

1) Arsenal beat Roma 1-0 earlier this evening on a Van Persie penalty. Again, Bendtner was kind of shite. Eboue got a standing ovation when he was subbed off, which is good I guess (that the fans aren't booing him anymore at least), but he's still pretty crap too. Positives about the game? Um, we won.

2) This article says Fàbregas is scheduled to come back for the Man City game in April. My Citeh-loving buddy better come through with those tickets. I don't even care if I have to sit in the away section.

3) My sister got engaged. I haven't actually been able to speak to her about it yet (she told me on Facebook while I was in Brighton, haha) because she's always out when I call. So I don't know all the details yet, but it's pretty exciting! For those who don't know, the sis is 22 and is due to graduate this spring; her fiance is 24 next month, graduated a year ago, and works for a bank in Pittsburgh.

4) I have three essays due soon. One every week until the end of term, specifically. I should probably start writing those.

5) I'm starting to think about where to go in April, when I have a month off of school. If any of you have input, feel free to leave it in the comments!

6) Don't forget to vote in the Hottie World Cup! Specifically, don't forget to vote for the USA in the Hottie World Cup! We're beating the Italy B team, but not by much.


You should also vote for the Dutch, because they're behind. Ditto Croatia. They also have awesome promo videos:



First round voting ends at 12:01 am GMT on Thursday. And thanks to Kickette, Unprofessional Foul, The Offside, and everyone else who has helped to spread the word!

this is serious.

Teams posted 20th Feb, and voting begins on the 23rd. You know you want to join in.

there's clearly something wrong with my brain

I was going to blog this earlier but I totally forgot about it until now.

So three nights ago I woke from a very vivid nightmare at about four in the morning. One of those sudden eyes popping open and heart racing deals. Now this is unusual for me because I rarely remember my dreams, and pretty much never have nightmares. So what was so scary to my subconscious that it left such a lasting impression?

Well in my dream, there was a murderer loose on the RHUL campus. At least, I think it was here; I don't really remember the specifics in the beginning, but they're not really important. Anyways, people started turning up dead, and no one had any idea who was behind the grisly murders. For they were bloody--almost Jack the Ripper-esque. We were all terrified that it was someone we knew, or someone we were about to meet, and the police had no leads so they were pulling everyone in for questioning. I remember two friends of mine (twins) made a cameo; one died, and the other was very nearly accused of being the murderer. I also remember having a pizza with some random guy, and being terrified that he was gonna turn around and knife me.

But it wasn't pizza dude. The dream progressed and somehow I ended up at a football pitch that I knew to be Anfield, although it didn't quite look like it. It was more like an arena, with walls right around the field, kind of like a baseball stadium. Suddenly someone comes out of the shadows, crazy-eyed and holding a machete.

No lie, the scary murderer was Robbie Keane. He started swinging his machete and yelling "come on you Reds!" and mass pandemonium ensued. There weren't many people on the arena-field-thing, but the crowd was going crazy, screaming and everything. Keane started chasing people around the pitch, and luckily I was able to climb one of the walls and sit on top of it safely (he's not tall enough to reach me, see). Unfortunately, someone else wasn't so lucky. Some random guy ran into a door in the wall, Keane followed him, the crowd went silent in shock...

...and then I woke up.



So the current theory on where dreams come from is that they are a result of neurons used recently during the day, firing at random to strengthen connections while you're asleep. Your brain tries to make some sort of sense out of these random bits of information, so you end up with (usually weird) stories. I can rationalize the process while I'm awake, but still. WTF is wrong with my brain that it came up with this??