Entry: Germany, Day 2

Another good day. We were planning on going to visit the barefoot park and also to Landstuhl to see a castle, but unfortunately the weather (and my sleep schedule) kept us from doing the second part.

We didn't quite know what to call this. I deemed it the "rook". Reminded me of a chess piece.

This was a pretty neat fountain. The channels at the bottom actually run across the various streets and drain on the other sides.

So, apparently, only rednecks and Germans call them "pissers".

Ok. This was creepy as h*ll. I walk out of the pissoir, and there, staring at me, was a life-sized, fake baby. that someone had abandoned whilst they went to the bathroom. This wasn't some kid's doll, either. It wouldn't stop staring at me!!

Apparently, they had these plaques everywhere telling you how to get to a nice walking path. Of course, I kept trying to get everyone to follow them under the mistaken impression that they lead to the barefoot park. Epic fail.

This way to the barefoot park. That's Ashleigh, Curtis, and Georganna.

Foreign branding cracks me up.

We are walking "the path".

So, we started by visiting the barefoot park. in Bad Sobernhein.

En Ingles, por favor.

For some strange reason, the ladies thought that it would be novel to wallow in the nice German mud.

Rinsing off in the 20-degree water.

Any idea what this means?

Gorgeous landscape.

I wish I had video of this. This woman's girl was swinging back and forth while they were crossing like she was a limp corpse.

Georganna and Ashleigh.

You'd think that walking on cork wouldn't feel that bad. In truth, I'd rather barf napalm than do it again. I can at least say that I've done it, now. :)

More gorgeous landscape.

Georganna and Curtis negotiating the...whatever it's called.

This is actually kinda painful when barefoot. Fun, though. :)

The ferry. Got some coins for Charon? What's funny is the little boy on the left is the one turning the wheel that moves the boat.

Neat bridge.

Bambi, this panorama shot is for you. It's the largest collection of garden gnomes I have ever seen. I thought that only Americans were that neurotic.

I know it probably shouldn't, but seeing this in a small German town was kind of profound.

Stuck behind the ol' tractor. Thing even had a license plate on it.

"Zur dicken Emma"

That's a Coke????

And yes...that's a beer. :)

That was the HALF-serving of brat.

Just...funny. :)

Entry: Germany, Day 1

After being picked up from the airport this morning ~10am local time (and being half catatonic from jetlag and lack of sleep), we trekked straight over to the city of Trier. I'd never heard of it but, MAN, was it cool!!

I actually ended up accidentally uploading these in reverse order. But anyway, here they is. :)

We went to the Church of St. Gangolph. It was pretty neat. Unfortunately, there was a mass going on so we couldn't really do much.

Georganna and her hubby, Curtis. He's....enthused.

A random fountain.

The entrance. Doesn't that centurion look kinda drunk?

We went to the Cathedral of St. Peter. It was, for lack of better words, absolutely off the hook!

That is one truly awesome graveyard.

More dead people.

A panorama shot of the inside.

Inside, different angle.

Inside, take #3.

Cool looking dome. It's amazing what impoverished monks and saints can afford.

A holy man hole.

The twin sister sisters. So, you can say sisters^2 or sisters(sisters()).

I know that some cultures don't care about much, but if someone came up to me and said, "Dude...do you mind if we put you on the cover of a book with your boobs hanging down over your gut and diaper?", I would probably say "no". But that's just me.

"Not Swimming"???

Yield to angelic SCUBA divers.

We also visited Porta Negra. It's a million-year-old Roman gate that used to be the entrance to the city. Absolutely awesome!!

A view from the inside.

Those romans knew how to build some seriously tall spaces.

Ashleigh and Georganna flirting with the local centurion.

An external view of the gates.

Women and children allowed here. (Pay no attention to the anatomically excited lions in the background.)

Women and children NOT allowed here.

These are shots of Basilica of Constantine. Apparently, before it was a Presbyterian church, it was used as a Roman throne room during the Constantine era.

Talk about tall!!

The obligatory cross.

Die, Bible!!

Another part of the Basilica.

Cool fountain.

Nice pond.

Entry: Prepping for Germany

So...the countdown begins. This time tomorrow I'll be in Newark waiting to board my flight across the big pond. Granted, I'm not looking forward to the 12-hour layover, but it's a small price to pay for international travel. :)

I say "prepping" for Germany when, in fact, I haven't done squat yet. I've laundry to do, DVDs to burn, jerky to make, a passport to locate, etc, etc. We'll see how this works out.

Entry: Diving Extravaganza this weekend

The International Diving Institute had its monthly Discover SCUBA event. I was fortunate to be accompanied by my sister (Michele), her husband (Brian), and my buddy Sean. We had a blast. The pictures came out pretty well.

My sister and I posing. Just FYI, this was my first time diving with this BC and thus my first time with the dreaded crotch strap. Fun, fun fun.

A picture of me taken from outside the tank. I actually stole this picture from here. Again...first time with this BC. I had enough attachment points on the thing but no clips or bungees to secure my hoses.

Michele and Brian just hanging out.

My sister doing a lap around the tank.

Michele.

Sean.

Some random kids who were watching us from outside the tank. I think they were scared of me.

Sean doing a very graceful ascent.

Michele doing a back flip.

Brian chillax'in on the bottom.

Brian doing a descent.

"Dude...you've something on your face...right here..."

Brian climbing out of the tank.

Michele practicing her power squats for Terry (one of the instructors).

A shot of Brian from outside the tank.

Entry: The Napster Effect

This image is hilarious, if not a bit sad as well. I suggest you take the time to click on it and read it up close. It's in response to the public outcry stemming from Netflix's recent subscription changes.

This story hearkens back to the time when Napster decided that their only chance for survival was to go "legit". Remember those days? :)

(The following story is fictitious, of course. I've never been one to pirate music.)

Oh yes...I remember it like it was yesteryear. I'm working on finishing up my undergraduate studies and someone comes in to tell me about this awesome new program called "Napster". "It's all your favorite songs for free, man!". And yes, it was. It was one of the few times when something that was too good to be true actually turned out to be true. "Thank you, Napster!"....my friends would say as they found all of the songs that were nigh impossible to find in stores or online anymore. Heck...they even found songs that were impossible to find due to their lack of syndication. Everything from obscure cult-classic 70's songs to a riff that they heard on a random episode of 'TJ Hooker'. After a while, I read stories on Slashdot about how Napster was besieged by the music industry and how the barbarians were knocking furiously at the gate. Nobody ever asked them to fight for our so-called "right" to anonymously download music, but they did nonetheless. The battle waged for years and (after pulling every legal trick in the book to keep their services up and running) in the end, Napster found itself at the end of the plank that it had been forced to walk. The choice was now very simple... acquiesce, or jump into the shark-infested waters below.

I remember reading all of the op-eds and random Slashdot articles about how Napster had "sold out" and how "Hell NO...I will NEVER pay for music again!". Napster...the force of change that had altered the music industry forever and for several years provided anonymous, subscription-less music downloads...was now seen as the bad guy and subsequently abandoned under the banner of disillusion.

Netflix is just an other random and somewhat more trivial example of the "Napster effect"...a reminder that people can sometimes get too accustomed to things that are "too good to be true" so that when they are NO LONGER true, they are more than willing to look that gift horse in the mouth.

Entry: Quote of the day

"You can always count on a liar to lie to you."

~ me