I’ll be in Austin from the 31st through the 13th of Feb.

Yesterday I made a passing reference to the Obama cult.  I particularly enjoyed this manifestation in Kenya:

Thousands gathered in the narrow dirt alleys and dusty clearings of the slum to enjoy the moment, chanting “Yes we can”. Hush fell only when the tiny television set in the corner of the ramshackle bar room filled with the distinctive features of America’s 44th President.

“This man is Jesus,” shouted one man, spilling his Guinness as Barack Obama began his inaugural address. “When will he come to Kenya to save us?

I like Obama, and I think he’ll be a successful president (he will benefit from a VERY favorable comparison to his predecessor). 

Looking forward I’m very interested to see how some of his more cult-like followers are going to respond to the managed-bankruptcy of one of the big auto companies.  It’s completely unavoidable, yet many 0f the people affected (those being manufacturing unions) are going to be the hardest hit.

Jana and I were recently amused to discover that we had both gone to university with the children of our respective presidents.  I just wish that the image of ourselves as young plutocrats couldn’t be so easily and effortlessly dismissed.

Let’s review last year’s new years resolutions, shall we?

1) Work harder – Yup

2) Apply to graduate school (and be admitted!) – Fail, on count one.

3) Eat more barbeque (especially strange ethnic varieties) – Fail.

4) Ride the bike and hopefully lose the 10 pounds gained during Christmas – success on count one, fail on weight loss.  Genetics working against me.

5) Stop dancing like a suffocating tuna – Mega-Fail

6) Drink less beer in absolute terms, but upgrade to high-quality czech microbrews (and incidentally learn what the hell Lambics are) – Success!  I’m off to an awesome microbrewery right now!

7) Get a high GMAT score – Yup

8 ) Learn how to operate the manual settings on the camera – Nope

9) Be less selfish – Nope

10) Feed the blog – Mega-fail

It’s best to forget about these resolutions in February, I think.  Damn you, internet!

For may people, their desktop/workspace is a place to encapsulate who they are – pictures and flags of sports teams, girlfriends, and postcards abound.  My desk has traditionally been empty except for old coffee cups and tissue packs, encapsulating my preference for laziness.  But my office location was suddenly changed yesterday, and I’m now displaying the following:

1) A bumper sticker reading ‘Honorary Citizen of Shiner, Texas’

2) A texas longhorns pennant that my Grandmother bought for me at an antique store about 10 years ago.  Must be from the sixties, it’s very cool

3) two pictures of my girlfriend, one wearing a texas shirt and one drinking a large Portugeese beer

4) One large picture of myself and Jory drinking beer

5) One postcard from Oktoberfest

Most people in the office have pictures of beaches in Croatia, Spain, and Greece plastered around their desk.  I have Oktoberfest – I think the comparison speaks for itself.

My piece de resistence is the medium-sized Texas flag that’s now hanging across the window.  I know i’m going to be told to remove it within the next hour, but for now I feel good.  This area is benevolently occupied by the local representative of the Republic of Texas.  Yee-Haw!

Yeah, I don’t like this one either.  And I should have a picture of prague on the header.  Anyone want to contribute something cool?

I had a bottle of Orval with dinner, and I didn’t like it.  It started well but finished with an odd medicinal taste.  Belgian beers have been coming on strong for me lately, but I’ll probably be avoiding this one for a while.

On the other hand, Jana has recently become obsessed with Pale Ales.  I find this very, very cool.

So Zeus is all up on Mount Olympus, chilling and watching college football while Hera complains about the drapes, when Al Gore makes an appearance on the television.  Incensed by this mere mortal’s pretentious bullshit, Zeus unleashes a bunch of nubile frost-nymphs he had hidden in the closet and sends a winter blast across the northern hemisphere.  And yet that damn Al Gore just won’t shut up.

I believe in global warming, but I don’t believe in self-flagellation.  I have no desire to revert back to some agrarian ideal, in order to pacify rich layabouts in central california, who are more concerned about Gaia than their socially disadvantaged neighbors.  If we’re going to revert to some semi-barbarian existence then I might as well join Osama in his cave.  Roast a goat and shoot some AK rounds into the starry Afghan night, and maybe I’ll feel a bit more connected to my non-ancestors in 7th century arabia.

Although if I’m reverting to anything then I’d have to go with Mammoth hunting.  I have a feeling that spearing a hairy elephant and dragging it back to the cave, roasting it with some tomatoes my cave-wench gathered, and serving it with a side of sliced potatoes with rosemary would bring me back into some state of pre-biblical bliss.  Preferably in a warm country, though – this snow thing sucks.

Christmas was cold and snow-free (although not plum brandy-free, luckily), leaving the Czech Republic waiting in dread for its seasonal frosting.  The snow didn’t show up overnight – it just steadily fell all day today.  And tomorrow the temperature is supposed to fall into the low teens on Senor Farenheit’s temperature scale.  My colleague lives about a 1/2 hour drive outside of prague, and decided mid-afternoon that he wasn’t even going to bother with his morning commute.  I like that kind of foresight.

I’m going skiing next week, I’ve decided to plan my injuries ahead of time in order to avoid disappointment.  I was thinking of taking out an ankle or wrist, but I settled on the spleen.  It sounds terrible (“Moles takes the turn too wide, shatters spleen across half of western China, world looks on in Horror!”) but I have no idea what happens when you hurt your spleen, besides causing friends to start laughing uncontrollably.

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Originally uploaded by Nick Moles.

I finally got around to posting the pictures from my trip to Malta. Just click on the photo above and roam around a bit.