Little Bundles of Joy Aren't the Only Things Storks Deliver

Dear friends,

Take a close look at this photo. This guy (or one of his friends; it's hard to be sure) pooped on me today. On my head ... all over me, actually. It was very public. I had no tissues.

It's hard to describe the sensation, but I would say it was reminiscent of the slimings on the Nickelodeon hit show You Can't Do That on Television. Except the Nickelodeon slime was supposedly edible and delicious, and I seriously doubt that my warm, white and sticky brand of slime was anything but.

Words of sympathy, condolence and gifts of intense clarifying shampoo would be appreciated.

Manglish Answers

1. Have you ever seen someone's bonnet (hood) fly up while they were driving down the road?

2. My boots (cleats) are in the boot (trunk). (double whammy)

3. Nobody wants to be the lamppost (third wheel...this one might be my favorite phrase).

4. Does anybody have a plaster? (band-aid...have I told you about the time my housemate and I got into a fight about this one? She cut her finger and wanted a plaster; I had no clue what a plaster was but offered a band-aid. She insisted she didn't want a band-aid until she saw it and exclaimed, "That's a plaster!" Oh what fun it is to live with a national!)

5. Can I follow (ride in your car) you to church? This one can initially be confusing as you wait in your car for someone to pull up behind you; at the same time they're waiting on you to pick them up somewhere...

6. I'm gonna make a move (leave) first. I like your definition better, Ryan! I'm not sure why they say this, but they feel the urge to announce when they're leaving by "making a move".

7. I had to use my torchlight (flashlight) today. I had to control my laughter the first time I heard my housemate say that one. Then again, I'm sure she laughs at me: I wear my headlamp every chance I get!)

8. Ugh, my computer hanged (froze) again!
9. I need to go to the toilet. (a freebie) They never say bathroom or restroom here. It's always toilet. It took me a while to get used to saying toilet. It just sounds impolite to me. One day at a Frisbee match I wanted to use the public toilet, which usually costs money at parks and fields. The sign said 0.20 cents-toilet, 0.50 cents-bathroom. When I asked the lady what the difference was she looked at me like I was an idiot. Toilet is obvious; bathroom is literally where you take a bath...except there are no baths here. I guess it should really say showerroom.

10. My computer's spoiled already. (already broken- I don't know if I can adequately describe the way they use already. Maybe they just over use it already until the word appears in almost every other sentence.)

11. I banged (hit) the car! (I think this is my housemate's favorite word!)

Good job, David! You got most of them right! I'm trying to think if there are any other exciting things to report from over here. Oh, I found 2 different cockroaches on me yesterday within an hour of each other! One was in my hair and quickly scurried away. A little while later I felt something in my shirt and after a quick jump, shook my shirt. When nothing scurried out I thought I was just being paranoid. And then 4 seconds later I felt it again. I shook the shirt again. Nothing. I'm in a shopping mall. I frantically RUN to the bathroom, slam the stall door closed, throw my shirt off and give it one hard shake. The little clinger scurries to a corner of the stall. I officially don't like cockroaches.

That's all for now! Hope you're all well! If you don't get my monthly updates but want to (or if you've changed your email since I started sending updates) please let me know! Love and miss you all!

ON ART, DEATH, TRUTH, HUBRIS AND THE UNSEXY CALL FOR MEDIA ACCOUNTABILITY

This article, from Paste, reminds me of some, ahem, "discussions" we've had about films such as No Country for Old Men. 

Read. Think. Talk. 

Manglish Quiz

So this isn't really Manglish (the native language here is called Bahasa Malaysia but everyone speaks English) but I'm not sure what else to call it. There's also a bit of British English in the mix too: they say things like queue instead of line, etc.

I'm getting ahead of myself. After living here for over a year I find myself using more and more phrases that I don't think I would've used a year ago and definitely wouldn't have known what some of them meant. So, I want to give y'all a chance to try your hand, er, interpretation at Manglish. Maybe this will help prepare you to understand me when I come home (which I'm still not sure when I'll be home...i will be back for SB'10!). Maybe you'll get some fun new vocab words and phrases. maybe it'll prepare you for your trip to visit me:) i donno. Here goes:

1. Have you ever seen someone's bonnet fly up while they were driving down the road?
2. My boots are in the boot. (double whammy)
3. Nobody wants to be the lamppost.
4. Does anybody have a plaster?
5. Can I follow you to church?
6. I'm gonna make a move first.
7. I had to use my torchlight today.
8. Ugh, my computer hanged again!
9. I need to go to the toilet. (a freebie)
10. My computer's spoiled already.
11. I banged the car!

ok, so some are easy; some a little tricky. i tried to use the phrases in the context that i first heard them. i'll post the answers later this week!

Was it worth it?

I thought this was funny.

Phelanphonic, Winter 2009

I've heard a lot of good, new music lately, and I've decided to share it with you guys. You can download the mix here. Many of the songs came from a music blog called Daytrotter that has a band into their studio to record four or five live tracks five days a week. The variety and quality of the music is good, although the writing is pretty abysmal and the quantity is overwhelming. It's worth checking out.

Here's the playlist:

Side One:


1. Weekend Wars, MGMT, Oracular Spectacular
2. Just Like Christmas, Low, Christmas
3. Eyes Peeled, Half-Handed Cloud, Daytrotter Session
4. Foot on the Brake, Half-Handed Cloud, Daytrotter Session
5. Sway, The Heartless Bastards, Daytrotter Session
6. So So, Brooke Waggoner, The Front Row Series: Brooke Waggoner with Mandy Mapes
7. Hush If You Must, Brooke Waggoner, The Front Row Series: Brooke Waggoner with Mandy Mapes
8. Beaut, Brooke Waggoner, The Front Row Series: Brooke Waggoner with Mandy Mapes
9. Day Lover, Brooke Waggoner, The Front Row Series: Brooke Waggoner with Mandy Mapes
10. Ben Taylor poem, Ben Taylor, Daytrotter Session


Side Two:


11. Wagon Wheel, Old Crow Medicine Show, O.C.M.S.
12. In A Strange Dream My Darling Mona Lisa, The Great Book Of John, Yves' Blues
13. The Ghost Inside Our House, Cloud Cult, Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes)
14. Cotton and Velvet, Cotton Jones Basket Ride, Daytrotter Session
15. Gypsy Rose, Ben Kweller, Daytrotter Session
16. Furr, Blitzen Trapper, Daytrotter Session
17. Lille, Lisa Hannigan
18. Gone The Bells, Cotton Jones Basket Ride, Daytrotter Session
19. James, The Great Book Of John, Yves' Blues
20. Dracula's Lament, Jason Segel, Forgetting Sarah Marshall Soundtrack

What???

The Catholic Church is bringing back indulgences. I'm surprised and confused. Thoughts?

Darwin's View of Unfolding Creation

I think many of you guys would enjoy this podcast about Darwin's view of creation. I really can't stress how quality this program, Speaking of Faith, consistently is. Listen to it and tell me what you think!

Big Update Friends

i have some news for all of you, this coming Thursday, the 12Th at 3:3o I have an interview with the Binghamton Development Corporation. If i get this job it would be huge. because they are working in Binghamton, and are doing great things with community development. There are two big things that could keep me from getting this job. One is that the guy whose job i would be taking is moving to Montana to do community development there. On February 25Th the zoning board in Billings, Montana is going to vote on a change in some zoning that would give this guy a job, if the zoning board votes it down then there will be no job opening, but if the vote goes through, then there will be a job opening. Two, there are other guys applying for this job, and obviously they could choose him. Anyways if i get this job it would be incredible. so I am just asking for ya'lls prayers on Thursday and on the 25Th. Anyway I love y'all and am blessed to have friends like you. Also, go and see Slumdog Millionaire if you haven't already it is incredible.

And one more reason to see Elaine Sing . . .

Some explanation in order: This weekend I am singing with the Birmingham Concert Chorale, along with 3 other college choirs, making a choir of about 300 plus a children's choir, in Carmina Burana. We will be accompanying the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. It should be pretty cool. 

The performances are on Friday and Saturday nights at the Alys Stephens center, and you are welcome to come. But . . . the tickets are pretty steep, ranging from $25-$85. 

Have no fear. You can come to an "open rehearsal" on Thursday for FREE. It won't be quite as seamless or aesthetically pleasing as the actual performance, but you'll get the idea, along with a "behind the scenes" sort of feel. The rehearsal will be from 7:00 to 9:30 at the Alys Stephen's center.