Saturday, March 26, 2011

Phone Calls

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Our land line phone has stopped working. However, we did not realize it for some time. We thought we were getting crank calls. We would answer the phone and could hear talking and background noises, but no one would respond to our speaking and then hang up. The first thought was telemarketers.


Our friend Anna called, did not get a response from us, so called my mobile. That is when we realized there was something wrong. Now the question lingers: is it the phone or the service? Yesterday, I had a get-together with a former student, Imola. I was so looking forward to spending quality time with her. Ron was invited, but he thought he was booked to give a tour at the museum. As I was leaving, he was calling the cable company to have them check on the phone line, but was thinking that he would leave shortly for the museum.


I met Imola at one of my favorite coffee shops and we are enmeshed in a deep conversation when my mobile rings. When I looked at the caller ID, I see my own face with our home number. I answer it, but nothing. Strange! Ron should have left for the museum by this time. Thinking it may have been a misfire, I ignored it. Five minutes later, it rang again. Same thing. I answered and said "If you can hear me, call from a mobile phone." I then called Ron, only to get a busy signal. He should be at the museum by now. If he turned his phone off would I get a busy signal?


This cycle repeated every 5-7 minutes for the next half hour. As much as I was trying to concentrate on the conversation while enjoying Imola's company, I had mental flashes of Ron on the floor. The scenario in my head was that he crawled to the land line trying to reach me for help. The repeated calls were a signal that he was in danger, needing me to rescue him. The busy signal on his mobile was easily dismissed. I had bought him a new Samsung Galaxy i900, but he was still not used to its functions. He must have dialed someone and left it on. Fear and concern are mounting. I am getting edgier by the minute and soon that is reduced to by the second. Finally, I apologize and explain I need to go.


After rushing home, I am preparing myself for what I may find. My heart is pounding like African drums signalling dangers ahead. I run in the door and Ron is standing there, haggard looking, but otherwise nothing traumatic. I jump into my litany of concerns accusing him of causing my distress.

He was on the phone with the cable company who provides our phone. They had him try a multitude of different things, but after each one, had him test the phone. He did so by calling my mobile after each and every test the cable company had him run to check on the phone. As it turned out, his museum tour was not until Saturday. This will give Ron some time to have his bruises heal. The phone still doesn't work.

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Friday, March 25, 2011

It's About Time Hungary Caught Up

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After living here in Hungary for almost ten years now, my credit card numbers have been stolen 9 times. Let me repeat that. The credit card numbers have been stolen 9 times. However, all 9 times, they have been 'borrowed' within the borders of the United States. Take notice: I have not set foot on U.S. soil since January 2003. Were these hints that I have been missed. "Wish you were here so we could do worse to you."


In addition to my identity theft through plastic, someone had the audacity to forge one of our California B of A checks, not an original, but a copy. They made it out for $2,000, signed Ron's name, but not even closely resembling Ron's signature, and then they cashed it at a B of A in Georgia. The bank cashing the check never asked for ID it turns out, but B of A took 3 months for their 'investigation' before returning our money.


Never, ever, ever have we had problems outside of the U.S. until yesterday. Ron tried logging into our Citibank account here in Budapest to pay bills. He could not access the system. After multiple tries, he called the bank. They verbally pummeled him with security questions. What is your account number? How many names on the account? What is your mother's paternal grandmother's middle name? What was your foot size at birth? How many words could you speak by the age of 4 years old?


When I came home and looked at him, I had thought he had been mugged by feral animals without claws. All of that talking drained him of his strength. He needed to be recharged. It turned out that his ATM card number was stolen. The ATM card that he has only used 4 times in 9+ years and it was stolen. When they asked if he withdrew 2 million Huf, I choked and laughed. If we had that kind of money, we would be on vacation right now. 


It looks like Hungary may just be starting to catch up with the U.S. on these types of fraud. Just like Hungary to be late for everything.

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Thursday, March 24, 2011

Immigration

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This morning we migrated to the immigration office to turn in our paperwork for the renewal of our Residency Permits. All four sides of the two sheets of forms were filled in, we had copies of our current residency cards, address cards, and passports. We had all of the originals on hand. 


We bought the special 'stamps' for 2,000 Huf each for each of our applications, but we dared not cut the photos. Vibrating fear warned us that we may cut too large which would not be an issue, but if we were to err on the small side, we would be done in.


Laszlo was waiting for us at our metro stop, which we had to take to the end. From there it was still a twenty minute bus ride and then a walk of two blocks to the office. By the time we arrived, a number of others had beat us there. Our numbers were 28 and 29. How was Laszlo going to bi-locate if we were called close together. Another couple told Laszlo that they had been there for an hour and the numbers had only moved up by one. Yikes!


As luck would have it, we were both called at the same time to desk 3 and 10, opposite sides of the room. Ron's worker was kind enough to agree to handle both of us. Rubber stamp, rubber stamp, rubber date stamp, date stamp with rubber stamping tools, stamp via rubber, glue the stamps, glue the photos, check paper, check paper a second time, a third time, and then ask Laszlo where our other 'stamps' were. 


Well it seemed that we were not give full information. Besides the 2,o0o Huf stamps for the applications, we needed an additional 4,ooo Huf stamp for each of our identity cards. Of course, these can only be purchased at a post office. Logic be damned, they don't sell them there where they are needed. That would be too easy. 


With a post office three blocks away, Laszlo went to get the stamps while she finished our paperwork. I would have taken bets of which of them crossed the finish line first. To my surprise, Laszlo won the race. Europeans are rubber stamp happy. Everything has to be rubber stamped 9 times with 9 different rubber stamps, but don't forget that everything has to be done in quantities of 5, so that is forty-five stamp actions. It is a surprise there are not more incidents of stampers elbow injuries. 


All is well. We return on April 26th at 11am to get our cards. She initially made it the 25th, but fortunately I had asked what day of the week it was. Then she realized it was Easter Monday, a holiday. I can imagine going over hill and dale to get there to find it closed. 


It was easier than anticipated, though everyone said it would be. However as you can see, it still takes a little piece out of us.



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Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Budapest Museum Tip

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Due to a lack of funding the Hungarian National Museum will start closing 2 days a week; both Monday and Tuesday. This started as of March 21st. Wednesday through Sunday it will continue to be open from 10 am to 6 pm.


This is the museum with the fabulous columns located at Múzeum krt. 14-16. As beautiful as it is inside, during the summer months you will die of heat stroke if you spend too much time in there. It is not air conditioned.

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Budapest Travel Tips

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Here are some tips that won't make it into video form. Starting in May, BKV, the Budapest transport company announced some improvements in services. The number 6 tram that travel the ring road, will operate all night long. The tram will be monitored by guards for the rowdys. Due to this, the 906 nighttime replacement bus will be discontinued.


The airport bus 200E will continue its service until 1:15 am. No one has informed the drivers, so please do not disturb their nap by trying to buy a ticket on board. Be considerate and purchase it ahead of time.


Buses 7, 7E, 173, and 173E, all within two blocks of us will operate more frequently. Regardless of what the locals believe, this city has some of the best public transport of any major city in the world. 

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It Is That Time of Life

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Who would have ever guessed that 5 years could pass so quickly? When we first received our 5 year Residency cards, it seemed like it would be another lifetime before we ever needed to have them renewed. Actually, at the time, Ron was hoping we never would have the need, but here we are. 


Tomorrow, we return to immigration with our friend Laszlo in tow to interpret. The last time, we paid an agency to assist, though we had to do the majority of the work anyway. They charged us 850 Euros EACH for the pleasure. At the end, they said "The good news is that when you renew this, it is only a few pages." 


Well, we contacted them to see what they were charging for the 'few pages'. They did not choke on the ridiculous amount of 350 Euros each. One of my former students started a business helping clueless immigrants as well. Knowing it was for me, he discounted his fee to 250 Euros each. Maybe if had given him better grades, we could have gotten it down to 150, but too late now.


Ron and Laszlo went to scope out the office. There are so many immigration offices here, you could spend a week going, standing in line, only to be redirected to a different address. That was what happened when they went, but they struck the lottery on office number 2. 


Our paperwork is filled out, all 2 pages, four sides of it. Our photos are current. Keep your fingers crossed for us. I can feel my ulcer just waiting for someone or something to agitate it just a wee morsel more. 


Yesterday, my school laptop's C drive completely disappeared. Don't kid yourself though. I call it the school laptop, because I bought it for my use at school. The university has no responsibility to repair it. It is in the shop now. All of that woke my hibernating ulcer. 

 
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Tuesday, March 22, 2011

What is Your Travelers Check IQ?

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Quick quiz:

When you travel, do you still use traveler's checks or cheques? No should be the right answer. They are not yesterday's news; they are decades old news. For more years than I care to think back on, I have been warning about the financial harms of traveler's checks and have backed it with experiences. 

In 1989, when in Munich, Germany I could not get any merchant to take my checks. Even the banks were reluctant as they sent me to their competitors. There was only one bank willing to cash them for German marks, long before the Euro was conceived. 

Not only did I waste a day bouncing around like a steel ball in a pinball machine, out of fear of running short of cash, I turned in more than I would have wanted. There went the security of the traveler's check. More insulting was the bank's fee, which carved a hefty niche from my budget.


American Express closed their offices here years ago. If you want to cash a traveler's check, you have to use Western Union or UniBank. Both will lovingly toss you upside down to see how many coins and bills will fall out to collect their fee for the aggravation of having to deal with your travel paranoia.

It is time to play grown-up. If you are going to travel, use your intelligence. Alternatively, that means don't do stupid things. The partner of one of my private students recently visited Athens with 1,000 Euros in cash sitting in his pants pocket. It was with him at the airport on arrival, but someone took pity on the heavy burden he was carrying and relieved him of it. They tried to believe he forgot it at home in a different pair of pants to spare the anguish of the short get-away, but once home, there was no cash.

The value of an ATM card is priceless.

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Train Travel Shouldn't Be Left to Italians

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I have been a member of the BootsnAll Travel Network for years now, but quite honestly I have lost interest in their newsletter quite some time ago. Today's issue had something that caught my eye though giving me reason not to end my free subscription. Always up for a bargain, this seemed like something worthy of a few minutes of checking. What is in bold is my doing.

"We also love saving money, and that's why we're excited to finally be able to share our new European rail tool. It offers BootsnAll customers access to a unique partnership with the Italian rail system that includes some pretty sizable discounts on train tickets. You'll be able to search for and book train tickets anywhere in Europe, too, for travels throughout the continent. 

It seemed strange to me that German rail has had the monopoly on train ticket sales for years, yet suddenly Italy was able to squeeze out a niche. Can we credit Silvio Berlusconi or his 'mob' of contacts for influencing the change?

BootsnAll promises "Huge savings" and then "Up to 30% savings". Wowser! Up to 30% savings on a Budapest to Vienna ticket could buy up to a coffee and Sacher torte once in shiny white Austrian city. I am game to give it a shot. 

Taking this new tool for a test run, scenery is flashing in front of my eyes as if I were comfortably slumped in a second class seat on an express train riding the rails to some exotic destination, while avoiding the hassle of dealing with snarly airport people.

Just for comparison, I know the cost of Budapest to Vienna tickets, so I pound in those cities into the ticket search engine. This is the result. "Ticket Search Errors: there are no station which correspond to the search criteria." Plural verb, singular noun. Yea, it was an Italian search engine for sure. 

Subsequent searches had the same result. Interestingly, I used the drop down menu of cities; none of them were conjured up from Lord of the Rings or Star Wars. They are real cities and the search engine provides them as options. 

So being an Italian site, when BootnAll claims travel throughout the continent, does this really mean "All roads lead to Rome"? If you want efficiency, use the German site, Bahn.

If you really want to save money, buy your tickets at the train station.
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Monday, March 21, 2011

Is It Just Me?

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Thankfully, I didn't create this particular post. I just happened onto it when reading the English news here in Budapest. I think I will pass on this trining until they hire a proffreadr.

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Just When You Think All is Well

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As mentioned in a previous post, the Budapest Ferihegy International Airport is now renamed the Budapest Liszt Ferenc (Franz Liszt) International Airport. The unveiling of the new sky court happened this last week. Here is a helicopter's view. Admittedly it is not shown at its best angle in this photo; it looks rather generic airportish. Yet, the more important piece of this information is that the airport capacity has increased from 5 million to 8.5 million passengers per year.




Now we just need to get those crazy airlines to reduce or eliminate their insane trumped up charges for everything in the universe so that people will want to fly. Oh and then we need some good marketing to get people to Budapest. In January, the Budapest hotels had the lowest capacity of all hotels in Europe. 


And just when you think things are going well, Malév pilots and flight attendants are planning a warning strike on Wednesday. What timing!

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Funicular Video

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Here is a new video, though the video itself is not great, it will have to do for now. Click here to view it.

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Sunday, March 20, 2011

Jennifer writes in...

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Jennifer has left a new comment on your post "Trivia of the Day":
The last time we had five weekends in a month was... last October. In terms of any particular month, it happens every 11 years, not 823 :)


Of course it was a teacher who caught this. Those weekends are holy days during the school year. You forced me to send a nasty note to the former friend who sent me the incorrect information on July.  : )

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Saturday, March 19, 2011

New Video

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A new video has been uploaded. I should call them Old Goat Productions. If you are so inclined, you can view it here.

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Trivia of the Day

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Did you know? Party hearty, anyone?

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Anna Comments

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Anna has left a new comment on your post "Árpád writes in":

If they are good at music they have an advantage. Though they will ned to learn that Liszt Ferenc is the same person as Franz Liszt :-)



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Friday, March 18, 2011

Árpád writes in

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Árpád has left a new comment on your post "An Airport by Any Other Name Smells Just as Smoggy...": 

As a fan of Liszt, I am not against the new name. However, I am sure that the change will take a very long time for people to process. T-Mobile has been T-mobile for over five years now, but a few people keep referring to it as Westel. 

Ah, yes! These things never matter to the locals. It only really matters to those who are just discovering that Hungary and Turkey are really country names. Now they have the whole airport issue to deal with. What is a poor geographically impaired tourist to do?

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Thursday, March 17, 2011

An Airport by Any Other Name Smells Just as Smoggy

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A bill was passed in Parliment last night renaming the now former Budapest's International Ferihegy Airport to Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport. This was done to honor the 200 year anniversary of his birth in 1811. The parliamentary action was part of an energy bill, so the bill passed with 231 yes votes and 71 no votes. 


The official date for the change to take place has not been announced, but any passengers with tickets listing the old airport name will be re-routed once they reach Budapest. A special airport shuttle bus will be provided to do a full circumference drive around the airport grounds until you are oriented to the name change. At that time, you will then be free to find your own transportation to your next destination. However, be forewarned that if your are leaving from Budapest International Ferihegy Airport, you should allow an additional twenty minutes for the reorientation bus ride before you are allowed to check-in for your flight. 

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New and Encouraging

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As I was leaving the metro after doing some videotaping, I happened to notice this sign. It has been posted recently. It provides information for the homeless as to where they can sleep, get meals and shower. There was law passed not too long ago making loitering by the homeless illegal, strangely punishable by a fine they would not have the funds to pay. This social service aid makes me feel better about it. 


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Anatomy of a Street Sign

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Here is my latest video, but I am working on suggestion provided by viewers, so stay tuned . You can view it here.

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Tuesday, March 15, 2011

1848 Holiday

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Yesterday and today were a holiday for many, including me. Although it has particular significance here, hence the day off, it seems that 1848 was quite a busy year for unrest is much of Europe. Read more here.

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Modesto Comes Back

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I wanted to let you know I enjoyed your book on Hungary and was surprised to read you had lived in Modesto, my current hometown.  The other day I conversed with a lady from Hungary, who's now living in Ripon.  My son and I will soon be embarking on a trip to Eastern Europe so I'm looking forward to visiting the sites you mentioned.  Thank you for your insights. Regards, Adele L.

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Where is the Logic?

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No country would disagree that they are not actively romancing the tourist trade luring tourist wallets to their region. Yet, conversely, it seems many of these places try to squeeze every cent (Euro or US) from you in the process. 


Germany started a controversial air emission tax on all outbound flights in Germany. This came into play at the beginning of 2011. Add to the mix, the additional distance based fees of up to €45 per flight in conjunction with all of the airline fees that suddenly appear after you hit the BUY THIS button. Talk about sticker shock. How many times have we been so emotionally invested by that point that we just say 'to hell with it' and pay the exorbitant fees anyway?


It doesn't stop with the airlines in Germany either. Cologne was the first city in Germany to introduce a bed tax. Gaining popularity, over fifty other German cities are considering the same option.  


Business travelers to destinations such as Barcelona or Rome are finding extra fees have been added to their hotels passed off as an accommodation charge, but it can reach up to €3 per night. If a taxi was not a luxury before, it may well be now with an increase in taxi fares of up to €10 per a ride. They will take you for a ride alright, both literally and metaphorically. Neither of these charges are relegated solely to the business traveler, so fatten your wallet before arriving. And the US is not off the hook either. In September 2010 the US introduced an entry fee $14 per person to enter the country.


While covering tourism news, this report just came out. Hotel revenue in Hungary was the lowest in Europe during January. Of all of Hungary, Budapest came in at the bottom of the list. Once they tally the figures, it will probably be the same for February. You can tell that the tourism arena is hurting when you can go to Heroes Square multiple times a week at differing times and find it sparsely populated other than a few skateboarders. 


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Monday, March 14, 2011

Riding the Rails in Budapest

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Here is video number 2, Using the Budapest Metros. I did not realize how much work there was to doing one of these little things. You can watch it here or on YouTube here.

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Travel Gear

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I receive dozens of reviews of different travel items and press releases on new events. Seldom do any of these make my heart go pitter-patter, but yesterday, the sound alarm went off in my heart. 


Here are 2 travel items that I would find indispensable. When you do geek travel, there are lots of cords, equipment, and chargers that need to go along. This would be a perfect solution. Anyone coming my way, I will reimburse you to bring me one.

Quoting the website "The Grid-It organization system is a unique weave of rubberized elastic bands made specifically to hold personal objects firmly in place. Designed to provide endless configurations of digital devices and personal effects. Slim design and conveniently sized for your current laptop bag or travel case, lets you easily find what you need. Features rear zippered pocket for additional storage." Order it here.


With the airlines playing nasty regarding weight limitations, this little tool is a must have to save you horrifying surprises at the airport. Again, quoting from the website "This tiny but powerful device allows you to weigh your luggage on the go; while you're away on a trip or just preparing to leave for one. The xScale® PRO is a hand held auto-locking digital scale that can weigh up to 110 Lbs (50 Kg)...the xScale® PRO has a finely tuned circuit board that auto-locks the weight of the luggage both quickly and accurately, even if your hands are not stable when holding up your luggage. With the high-contrast reversed LCD screen, the weight is easily read even in dimly lit hotel rooms. One of its more advanced features is an overweight indicator; the LCD screen will change to red when the luggage exceeds the weight limit. The weight limit can be set from 20 to 50 lbs in 10 lb increments." If this floats your boat, order it here. This is something I would like to have around for guests as well as for our own use. Again, if you are coming my way, I would love one.


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Sunday, March 13, 2011

On a Windy Day...

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This is my maiden voyage so to speak, into the world of video. What this is going to transform into is a series of short videos that people can view before coming here to get a bit of orientation to the city, learn some fun facts and get a sneak peek into some of the 'not to be missed' places to go.  


Truth be told, this idea is over 2 years old and that is when I bought the video camera. However, I am really shy about being photographed, so it took this long for me to throw caution to the wind and go for it. 


Ron was the cameraman for this short clip, but I had to be the director. At first he was not aware that the camera was running, then the second attempt, he kept panning everything in the background. I thought I had thoroughly explained that for this introductory video, I wanted the camera only on me. ME, ME, ME!!! This took 2 years, now I want it on ME. In this version of the video, you can tell I start just after finishing a laugh, because I had.


We took a trip to Castle Hill for this sample. It is the only video that I will post here, but they will all be in my Ryan and Ron Do the World Blog. Have fun with it.

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Thursday, March 10, 2011

Why Plan? Scenario 2

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Scenario 2: I have been booked since November to teach a special writing course to the Department of Psychology, but the course was schedule for this month. In January, I inquired about dates as I had not received them yet. By February, I asked again and received them at the end of the month. Still, I did not have a contact, an address, or any pertinent information, all of which were included in prior e-mails to my colleague who arranged this. 

Last Friday, I get what apparently is the secret packet of info. They have kept it so close to their vest for so long, it feels like a spy mission. Included is the address of the department; it is separate from my campus. They were also gracious enough to share the name of the department head and her secretary's name, but no contact info. Do they have unlisted e-mail addresses? 

On Monday, I walked over there to do a run-by to see how long it would take me to get there and to turn in my handouts for the secretary to copy for attendees. Apparently, room number 102 does not exist, because as diligently as I surveyed the floor, the numbering went from 101 to 103 and beyond. Up the hall, down the hall, checking every nook and cranny, no room 102, not even broom closet. On my fifth rotation of the hall, a woman appears with mobile in hand. When she is fumbling for keys, I stand waiting patiently for the phone to disappear in her pocket or for her to call the police assuming my intentions are nefarious. 

Luck! She is the secretary I am looking for. The professor will be in in ten minutes time if I want to wait. We transfer all of the handouts from my USB stick to her computer. I explain all of it to her as well as give my e-mail address again. It is on the front page of the handout as well. Explaining I have no idea where I am suppose to present within the building and I would really like to know if I need to bring my own equipment, she feigns having any knowledge. BUT the professor will be here in ten minutes, yet that story played originally fifteen minutes ago when I arrived. 

The sense of time and distance here are corrupted. You ask someone how far is ...? The response is always "It is only a ten minute walk." In reality, it takes thirty to forty-five minutes if you are wearing your track shoes doing a swift pace of strides. 
I knew her arrival really translated to "She is expected sometime this semester."

Reiterating my e-mail address, I asked to be contacted with pertinent information. 
Equipment - Yes or No (Circle one)
Location - Fill in your answer here.

Still no word.
When I complained to the colleague who arranged this stating there was vital information missing, she wrote back with the same information I had already, nothing new. Yet at the same time, she made me feel like an incompetent for not knowing. What happened to professionalism?


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Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Why Plan?

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I used to have a "Type A" branded on my body until I had it surgically removed. It stood for my compulsive need to have everything just so, with miles of lists to remember to put things just so and then more lists to remind me to update the lists of things I wanted to remember. I attribute this to the fact that my mother was not the best of housekeepers and we once lost my brother for four days somewhere in the house. 


If one were to believe in karma, I must have been a bad boy/girl/neutered animal in a previous life, for I am now suffering for it in Hungary, the land of lack of planning. In our 9 3/12, opps, let's see smallest common denominator. Hmm.... 9 1/4 years here, if I had one page of a best selling novel written for each time someone in authority did not plan in advance, I would outsell J.K. Rowling.   


OMG, they drive me nuts. How many times have I heard "We need this by tomorrow, you cannot delay with it." When asked "How long have you know this?" The answer is usually longer than a moon cycle around Venus


Case in point. For my first 4 years at the university, we had the full week off before Easter and then the following Monday and Tuesday. Come the fifth year at the university, planning the norm, we were traumatized when plans were made to find out they changed the rules. We would now have Monday and Tuesday as teaching days and then off Wednesday through the following Tuesday. This is the way it has been since. We plan our courses, schedules, and even student competitions accordingly. 


Then there is this year. Same routine. Off Wednesday through Tuesday, come back to teach on the following Wednesday. Then someone up, up, up in the ivory fortifications decides that the Monday and Tuesday are "no man's days", so we should have them off. To hell with the fact that all of us who teach on Mondays (I don't) or Tuesdays (I do) have planned readings, assignments, and the entire semester coverage over X number of weeks, is now in disarray. 


Some native instructors are even more furious than I as they have student competitions scheduled for that week.

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Costa Rica kayak weighs in with a comment...

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Costa Rica kayak has left a new comment on your post "My Students' Blogs":
"That's a great idea. At least, it will give your students some idea how blogging goes, on online interaction, and on the exchange of ideas."


Thanks for the feedback! I do hope you will visit some of the blogs. They need the confidence that someone is paying attention to them.

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Happy Women's Day

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Goddess only knows what this means, but Google had this picture and Happy Women's Day! Does that mean a day off with pay? A day without having to cook dinner? A day when the baby will learn to diaper itself? Doesn't sound like much to me. Maybe some of the related articles will clue us in.


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Monday, March 07, 2011

My Students' Blogs

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In my journalism program, I teach a Blogging and Website course. The goal is to get students somewhat exposed to 21st century journalism. One would guess this generation is beyond blogging; however, it is not true here. This is a new experience for many of them at least writing in English. As such, I would like to post their sites here and encourage any and all to visit them, share them, but most importantly COMMENT. Comments will give them the boost to improve knowing there are others reading the blog besides their classmates, friends, and family. With that knowledge, they will take the blog more seriously and hopefully continue beyond this semester. Even if you only visit each one once, a few minutes of your time will be an immeasurable help.



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Friday, March 04, 2011

Big Love

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We have finally caught up with those in the US, being able to watch the HBO show Big Love. For those not familiar with it, the story revolves a Mormon family who live the principle of Joseph Smith. That principle being polygamy. Hence Bill Henrickson is living in marital bliss or not, with his three wives. Since everyone knows, including the Mormon dominated folks in Sandy, Utah where the show supposedly takes place, polygamy was banned in order for Utah to join the United States.


Bill's ladies live in three houses next to each other; the houses look perfectly normal from the street. However, their backyards are one contiguous piece of acreage where they traipse back and forth continually to either share their meals,  thoughts on a topic, or just share Bill. 


Coming to this HBO banquet late, this being the fifth and final season, we were watching two or three episodes a night. Strangely, when I watch as many vampire shows, there is no end result. Yet, each time we chowed down on Big Love, I had big not so lovely nightmares. It would be embarrassing to share how many nights I wanted to wake screaming because some church leader was forcing me to marry, marry a woman, you see. It didn't need to be a multiple marriage, one was enough. I tried clawing my way out of Sandy, Utah, but they were gathered around me like Rosemary's Baby.


One would think that when one is ill and is using the facilities upwards of fourteen times in a night and blowing the nose with triple the frequency, the cycle of the dream would stop and desist. No, it was not about to happen. I must have popped a vessel in my nose, because at one point, my nose started to bleed when I blew it. God only knows how, I could have any fluid to run out. With all of the bodily fluids I have deposited, one would think all I could produce from my nose would be dust bunnies. Though, I was awake, not dreaming, so I was concerned that the blood was pink and not red. This had to be a sign from a higher power. Even my blood runs pink. If these nightmares continue, I may just start bleeding in rainbow colors.  

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Public Service Announcement

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I am posting this video as a Public Service Announcement, those of you in the USA will be familiar with PSA. Although at first glance, when you view this video, you may erroneously believe none of this could possibly pertain to you or those you love. However, TRUST ME! Watch the video to the very end. Don't be fooled by the opening. You will see how it needs to be views by all. There are multiple scams presented, so if at first you think I am wrong, wait it out and you will be surprised at just how important this video is to your life.


One disclaimer: My massage therapist, Gabor Pal would never run any of these scams on anyone. 


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Wednesday, March 02, 2011

I Had My Eye on a Star

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The universe only knows how she pulled it off, but one of my colleagues who has taught African-American literature and film classes for years reached for the stars, grabbed one and had her come to give a talk at the university. In the US, Black History month is the entire month of February. However, on March 1st we are thrilled to welcome Jurnee Smollett to our campus. At first her name did not ring any bells with me, until I did a little checking. She starred in some of the movies that held the greatest impressions on me. At ten years old she played Eve in Eve's Bayou, the ten year character that the story revolved around. The Great Debaters was based on a true story; she played the part of Samantha Brooke. Aside from movies, she had been in numerous television shows. Most recently some may recognize her from her twenty-six episodes of Friday Night Lights or the newest show The Defenders.


So this bubbly twenty-four year old is one hot woman, but brimming over with personality. We watched a few clips from Eve's Bayou on VHS if you can believe it, but when it came time to work the computer to run the 2nd movie, the Luddites on hand could not manage the technology. They ignored my catcalls, so I refused to venture up to rescue them. Being stubborn and not listening to sound/visual advice has its own punishments.  All the better, it gave us more time with Jurnee. 


Her gorgeous husband was sitting right in front of me, blocking my view actually, but I could not get too heated up over that to care. Toward the end, Jurnee shared that her mother is Creole, African American, and Native Indian. Her father is Ukrainian and Polish. As soon as she mentioned her father's history, you could feel the Hungarian sitting at the edge of their seats with breathes held in bursting cheeks, routing her on to a great finish by saying her father has some Hungarian. Alas, no, it was not meant to be. 


Because I had to squeeze by her Mr. to get out, there was only about 2 feet of space between us, I had to say hello to them both. Utterly gracious, we were chatting away, when Ron who was not even sure he wanted to attended jumps into the conversation with "Hi, I'm Ron. I'm his partner." They did not blink an extra eyelash. What dawned on me is that even at my age, I can get star struck by incredibly beautiful black women stars. If you want to see wedding photos, click below.

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