The time has come to return to Switzerland where I will spend a few days packing my things and wrappings up for my final move to San Francisco. Before leaving, Hash pointed out that this would be the right time to perform my coup d'etat so I can create that totalitarian feminist regime of mine. It was clear that the Swiss would have to go, but we had to ponder on where to send them before we came up with a solution we were happy with, since we couldn't figure out who would deserve them. In the end we realized that it wasn't really who would have to accept them as much as what would happen to them in their new country, and we settled on sending them to Pakistan where they would be exploited as cheap labor and unable to obtain cheese (at least as they know it).
The first thing on my mind as I set foot on Swiss ground was not the coup d'etat but to hold my nose due to the stench of stale smoke. But fear not, my mind didn't stray for long before I got back on track by learning that the Swiss had already started the groundwork for me, much to my surprise!
The elections were just held and the evil racist party SVP won. This resulted in them getting two out of seven seats in the cabinet, which would naturally go to Cristoph Blocher, who led the party to victory in the elections, and Samuel Schmid - both of them currently in the cabinet. But here's the twist: who actually gets the seats is not decided by the parties themselves, but through votes cast by the parliament. Apparently the other parties thought it would be a good idea to gang up on Blocher and not elect him, but instead chose Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, a more moderate member of the party that as far as I can understand is kind of a nobody in this context.
SVP are threatening to kick both Schmid and Widmer-Schlumpf (does that sound like a made-up name or what?) out of the party unless they decline their positions in the cabinet. However, SVP can't kick them out of the cabinet, so that would make them independent members of the cabinet. SVP would go into opposition, which according to my co-workers means they can challenge every decision and demand a referendum, making politics incredibly slow. (Hey wait... isn't that how Switzerland works already?)
We're all really excited to hear about Instability and Unexpected Events in Swiss politics, the Swiss could use a stir. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Widmer-Schlumpf to accept her seat and for SVP to be left outside the cabinet, although it hardly seems like it would be
a smart move for her.
So the Swiss have started on the path towards my coup d'etat, I'm hoping tomorrow they will continue by putting a temporary ban on cheese in protest. If so, by my calculations the country will be so weak by Saturday that I can just step in and do whatever I like - provided that I manage to stock up on cheese myself first, or I'll fall into the same trap as the Swiss.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Monday, September 10, 2007
The randomness of it all
Obviously about a thousand things have happened since last, some of them more significant than others, some of them actually deserving a mention in the blog... but since I'm not actually a fan of blogging and lacking any dedication, I'll just skip that.
Revolution has since last become one of my regular hangouts. And oh, do I have stories to tell.. I'm not sure all of them are appropriate for writing though. Tonight I went back for classical music though. Oh so lovely! I just can't believe that these great musicians come back Sunday by Sunday to play for tips... but I love that they do.
But, let's step back for a second, despite my promise to skip the old stuff: some weeks ago, I had a really crappy Saturday. I was very grumpy and I had no plans for the evening, nor did I have the energy to try very hard to get any; I mostly just felt like maintaining my grumpiness. I went over to my favorite coffee shop Ritual, sat there for a few hours reading and drinking chai and coffee, reading a book. At 10 pm, I figured it'd be time to head over to Revolution. I got myself a beer and realized there was no place to sit, anywhere. Finally, after scouting the place out for some time, I see there's a tiny spot on a bench where I could sit if I could convince the current habitants of it to scoot over a bit. The current habitants would; in fact, we ended up sitting there talking and drinking together for three hours, having a blast. And that's how I met Ambar and Hash.
Fast forward, last Friday, I ended up having an awesome night with this random acquaintance from the shuttle, another Ambar. He came with me to Revolution tonight, and after a while I found the first Ambar at the bar. Happy to see him again, I buy him a beer and introduce the Ambars to each other. And here's the conversation:
Ambar #1: "Ambar! I've only met one other Ambar before."
Ambar #2: "Apparently it's a common name for women in Pakistan!"
[conversation continues, partly involving encounters with women named Ambar]
Ambar #1: "Hey, your last name doesn't happen to start with a P, does it?
Ambar #2: "Yeah, it does actually... how come?"
Ambar #1: "Mine does too! It's Punjabi."
Ambar #2: "Uh wait... haven't we met before?"
Ambar #1: "Oh... on a flight from New York?"
Ambar #2: "Like 6-7 years ago?"
Ambar #1: "Oh. I guess you are that only other Ambar I'd met before."
And they went on talking about that time they'd met, while I and my friend Collin laughed so hard we ended up being told off by the other people in the bar. This is one of the funnier coincidences I've experienced in a long time. :)
Revolution has since last become one of my regular hangouts. And oh, do I have stories to tell.. I'm not sure all of them are appropriate for writing though. Tonight I went back for classical music though. Oh so lovely! I just can't believe that these great musicians come back Sunday by Sunday to play for tips... but I love that they do.
But, let's step back for a second, despite my promise to skip the old stuff: some weeks ago, I had a really crappy Saturday. I was very grumpy and I had no plans for the evening, nor did I have the energy to try very hard to get any; I mostly just felt like maintaining my grumpiness. I went over to my favorite coffee shop Ritual, sat there for a few hours reading and drinking chai and coffee, reading a book. At 10 pm, I figured it'd be time to head over to Revolution. I got myself a beer and realized there was no place to sit, anywhere. Finally, after scouting the place out for some time, I see there's a tiny spot on a bench where I could sit if I could convince the current habitants of it to scoot over a bit. The current habitants would; in fact, we ended up sitting there talking and drinking together for three hours, having a blast. And that's how I met Ambar and Hash.
Fast forward, last Friday, I ended up having an awesome night with this random acquaintance from the shuttle, another Ambar. He came with me to Revolution tonight, and after a while I found the first Ambar at the bar. Happy to see him again, I buy him a beer and introduce the Ambars to each other. And here's the conversation:
Ambar #1: "Ambar! I've only met one other Ambar before."
Ambar #2: "Apparently it's a common name for women in Pakistan!"
[conversation continues, partly involving encounters with women named Ambar]
Ambar #1: "Hey, your last name doesn't happen to start with a P, does it?
Ambar #2: "Yeah, it does actually... how come?"
Ambar #1: "Mine does too! It's Punjabi."
Ambar #2: "Uh wait... haven't we met before?"
Ambar #1: "Oh... on a flight from New York?"
Ambar #2: "Like 6-7 years ago?"
Ambar #1: "Oh. I guess you are that only other Ambar I'd met before."
And they went on talking about that time they'd met, while I and my friend Collin laughed so hard we ended up being told off by the other people in the bar. This is one of the funnier coincidences I've experienced in a long time. :)
Friday, July 20, 2007
Why SUVs are evil
Don't get all stuck on the environmental issues on this topic! There are so many more reasons to hate SUVs.
This morning, I was driving to work. I get in the car, open the garage door and am just about to back out when I see something blocking my sight... A freaking huge SUV blocking the driveway. Yay. I finally made it out, by driving on the sidewalk for a bit, and by getting help from a random person that was passing by. That's a second reason to hate SUVs. Damn driveway blockers!
On my way home tonight I got stuck in front of an SUV... experiencing the third reason to hate those ugly things. The headlights are so high up that you're pretty much blinded whatever you do, and it's not worth even trying to use the rearview mirrors.
As for reason number four: that SUV is still blocking the driveway! I was lucky that my roommate just arrived and helped guide me into the garage. It took ten minutes and massive amounts of backing all over the place.
Now I've learned how to call for towing.
Update:
Now I've learned that if you call for towing, at some point a police officer will show up and you will get a phone call requiring you to go downstairs and give your signature. In my case, this happened at 4:45 am. I was too sleepy to realize what the man on the phone said so I stood in my bedroom silently staring at the police car for three minutes listening to the noise at the other end of the phone before I realized I had to go downstairs.
This morning, I was driving to work. I get in the car, open the garage door and am just about to back out when I see something blocking my sight... A freaking huge SUV blocking the driveway. Yay. I finally made it out, by driving on the sidewalk for a bit, and by getting help from a random person that was passing by. That's a second reason to hate SUVs. Damn driveway blockers!
On my way home tonight I got stuck in front of an SUV... experiencing the third reason to hate those ugly things. The headlights are so high up that you're pretty much blinded whatever you do, and it's not worth even trying to use the rearview mirrors.
As for reason number four: that SUV is still blocking the driveway! I was lucky that my roommate just arrived and helped guide me into the garage. It took ten minutes and massive amounts of backing all over the place.
Now I've learned how to call for towing.
Update:
Now I've learned that if you call for towing, at some point a police officer will show up and you will get a phone call requiring you to go downstairs and give your signature. In my case, this happened at 4:45 am. I was too sleepy to realize what the man on the phone said so I stood in my bedroom silently staring at the police car for three minutes listening to the noise at the other end of the phone before I realized I had to go downstairs.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Barbie, jazz, and Fidel Castro
I knew I'd like the Mission when I moved here. I knew there's lot of cool stuff going on. But really - this is ridiculous.
I got off the shuttle this evening, and went back to the awesome live music bar from last night... today it was time for some really good jazz. Me and my companion sat there grooving for an hour or so, until our conversation started to focus more and more on the robot paintings on the wall, meandering onto the topic of murals around the Mission... and with that, we set out to explore previously mentioned murals. We walked past the Pirate Store and arrived at a shady alley, full of murals and ramblings and, after a while, some shady people and my companion thought it might perhaps be time to check out a less shady street. We went on, found some buildings that were elephants that wore fans that were moving the city around and there were chimneys that were cannons that shot out thunderstorms and... well, you really have to see it for yourself.
Now, I had this crazy idea of getting up really early tomorrow morning, to go to work, go for a run, and then meet a friend from Zurich for breakfast. I also had this idea of not drinking tonight, but I'd already had a glass of wine at Revolution. But then we walked by this place that I'd never seen before despite having walked past it oh so many times... I can't believe how I could miss it though - maybe it's some kind of time warp that just opens up on special occasions? It was a tiny, tiny bar, barely even a hole in the wall, but it was the most cluttered place you could ever imagine. There was nothing we could do about it, we just had to go inside. There was a bunch of men speaking Spanish at the bar. Trying to place an order, with difficulty, I got the impression that we may have been the only people in the bar knowing English. I ordered a couple of sangrias from the bartender who bore a striking resemblance to Fidel Castro. And off we went into a corner to study the walls... and the ceiling... and the table... and everything in between! It was full of pictures and mobiles and things. A crutch that was also a machine gun, an original newspaper front page from John Lennon's death, and dolls... lots of babies and Barbies. All parts of really disturbing sculptures. A baby with its arms removed in favor of forks. A baby hanging from the ceiling with butterfly wings. A baby sitting on a bomber plane with the nose replaced by a rat, the baby holding a Mickey Mouse figure in one hand and the American flag in the other. Barbie legs sticking out of whatever you can imagine.
Places like this just don't exist.
I. Really. Love. Living. Here.
I got off the shuttle this evening, and went back to the awesome live music bar from last night... today it was time for some really good jazz. Me and my companion sat there grooving for an hour or so, until our conversation started to focus more and more on the robot paintings on the wall, meandering onto the topic of murals around the Mission... and with that, we set out to explore previously mentioned murals. We walked past the Pirate Store and arrived at a shady alley, full of murals and ramblings and, after a while, some shady people and my companion thought it might perhaps be time to check out a less shady street. We went on, found some buildings that were elephants that wore fans that were moving the city around and there were chimneys that were cannons that shot out thunderstorms and... well, you really have to see it for yourself.
Now, I had this crazy idea of getting up really early tomorrow morning, to go to work, go for a run, and then meet a friend from Zurich for breakfast. I also had this idea of not drinking tonight, but I'd already had a glass of wine at Revolution. But then we walked by this place that I'd never seen before despite having walked past it oh so many times... I can't believe how I could miss it though - maybe it's some kind of time warp that just opens up on special occasions? It was a tiny, tiny bar, barely even a hole in the wall, but it was the most cluttered place you could ever imagine. There was nothing we could do about it, we just had to go inside. There was a bunch of men speaking Spanish at the bar. Trying to place an order, with difficulty, I got the impression that we may have been the only people in the bar knowing English. I ordered a couple of sangrias from the bartender who bore a striking resemblance to Fidel Castro. And off we went into a corner to study the walls... and the ceiling... and the table... and everything in between! It was full of pictures and mobiles and things. A crutch that was also a machine gun, an original newspaper front page from John Lennon's death, and dolls... lots of babies and Barbies. All parts of really disturbing sculptures. A baby with its arms removed in favor of forks. A baby hanging from the ceiling with butterfly wings. A baby sitting on a bomber plane with the nose replaced by a rat, the baby holding a Mickey Mouse figure in one hand and the American flag in the other. Barbie legs sticking out of whatever you can imagine.
Places like this just don't exist.
I. Really. Love. Living. Here.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Bliss
I'm in heaven.
And it is named California.
On Saturday morning, I was picked up by a friend who took me to Point Reyes where we went horse riding in the mountains for a couple of hours. Having used to ride regularly but not having been on a horseback for two years, I was so happy to be back. And the nature here is so very beautiful. It was foggy, so we couldn't see the ocean, but seeing the fog slowly roll in between the trees is quite a sight as well... while sitting on the back of a horse who is just as excited as me about going faster, faster, faster!
This afternoon was spent in Mission Cliffs, climbing to our hearts' content. Or to our arms' content, more like it... Mine were already sore from yesterday's adventures, but climbing was, as always, a lot of fun anyway. We ended up being quite a large group, and we made plans to go to this bar called Revolution close to where I live that I've seen and heard was good.
Five of us met up at Revolution. We really hit it at a great time... I knew there'd be live music, but WOW. At first there was some really good jazz, that I thoroughly enjoyed. Then, a while later, there was classical music... and it was pure bliss. Piano, cello, and viola. It was so beautiful. All five of us turned into drooling idiots, sitting there with closed eyes and smiles on our faces. People with instruments kept walking in and out, and the ensemble changed one person at a time, to more and more awesomeness (I have to learn more superlatives!)... until they reached the completely unexpected combo of cello, viola, and a bongo drum(!). I believe it was all improvisation by then, and it started off good but not great... and then they tuned in and whoa. It just blew my mind. I'm so happy.
I'm in heaven.
And it is named California.
On Saturday morning, I was picked up by a friend who took me to Point Reyes where we went horse riding in the mountains for a couple of hours. Having used to ride regularly but not having been on a horseback for two years, I was so happy to be back. And the nature here is so very beautiful. It was foggy, so we couldn't see the ocean, but seeing the fog slowly roll in between the trees is quite a sight as well... while sitting on the back of a horse who is just as excited as me about going faster, faster, faster!
This afternoon was spent in Mission Cliffs, climbing to our hearts' content. Or to our arms' content, more like it... Mine were already sore from yesterday's adventures, but climbing was, as always, a lot of fun anyway. We ended up being quite a large group, and we made plans to go to this bar called Revolution close to where I live that I've seen and heard was good.
Five of us met up at Revolution. We really hit it at a great time... I knew there'd be live music, but WOW. At first there was some really good jazz, that I thoroughly enjoyed. Then, a while later, there was classical music... and it was pure bliss. Piano, cello, and viola. It was so beautiful. All five of us turned into drooling idiots, sitting there with closed eyes and smiles on our faces. People with instruments kept walking in and out, and the ensemble changed one person at a time, to more and more awesomeness (I have to learn more superlatives!)... until they reached the completely unexpected combo of cello, viola, and a bongo drum(!). I believe it was all improvisation by then, and it started off good but not great... and then they tuned in and whoa. It just blew my mind. I'm so happy.
I'm in heaven.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Pride, naked people, and litter
I knew it was that time of year when I left my apartment, and before I'd reached the end of the block, I'd first encountered a man wearing only a pair of sparkly shorts, and then a man wearing only a leather vest and a ballerina skirt.
I met up with a friend for breakfast, and then we headed down towards the parade. We got a pretty good view of it, including all the naked people. Since I got here, I've seen an amazing number of naked people in public. First the naked bike race, then Pride. Interesting.
Market street was full of trash. I pointed out to my friend, a fellow escapee from Zurich, that if this was Zurich they'd be out at 4 am cleaning it all up and you'd see no trace of it the next day. One point to Zurich, for once. But, as I was walking home a couple of hours later, it was pretty much cleaned up already. Point transferred from Zurich to San Francisco.
I met up with a friend for breakfast, and then we headed down towards the parade. We got a pretty good view of it, including all the naked people. Since I got here, I've seen an amazing number of naked people in public. First the naked bike race, then Pride. Interesting.
Market street was full of trash. I pointed out to my friend, a fellow escapee from Zurich, that if this was Zurich they'd be out at 4 am cleaning it all up and you'd see no trace of it the next day. One point to Zurich, for once. But, as I was walking home a couple of hours later, it was pretty much cleaned up already. Point transferred from Zurich to San Francisco.
Coloring, second attempt
I went back, and got a new color. Much better this time. I also upgraded my facial expression while I was at it. I don't really like having my photo taken, so I have to make silly faces!
I also got a bunch of good music recommendations for the hairdresser, who ended up staying an hour after closing time to fix my hair. Wow! I'm very happy with my new color though.
I also got a bunch of good music recommendations for the hairdresser, who ended up staying an hour after closing time to fix my hair. Wow! I'm very happy with my new color though.
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