hola!

Given that most of the people that read this blog are receiving emails and post cards from either ´´funundrum´´ or myself, I don´t think that I have much new to add to the blog. Except that I am posting from a small hotel (that really has a hostel like feel) in the small town of Porto Iguazù, Argentina. That in and of itself is a reason to post. Oh, and I wish that I spoke Portugeuse, because I could easily give you a ´´ç´´.. Or I could tell you that I had my first empañada, so I could use the ñ key on this weird keyboard.

We are having a fantasitc time here.. Nursing a bit of a hang over due to the three bottles of wine and as many litres of Quilmes beer that we had last night over dinner. We met two people from London here in our hotel, Peter (who was from Newcastle, where they make the beer, and who by the way HATES Newcastle beer) and Heidi, who is also from outside of London. They were on their seventh month of traveling consistently. They didn´t actually live here, but they also didn´t have a home. They had bought a around the world ticket and were slowly making their way from London to Austrialia via every bit in between. Fantastic people who make you want to save for a year, quit your job and do the same thing. We ate fantatic Bifé de Lomo (the nicest cut - like a Filet Mignon), drank great Argentinian wine and made the owner of the Parillia very happy with our request for two more bottles of wine ´´to go´´ and promply paid the $200.00 bill. Oh, by the way, that is $68.58 US dollars. For four people. Liz and I paid $17.14 each. This is why I love Argentina and am coming back as soon as possible. I can kind of understand their spanish, because it isn´t full of slang and spoken at a rate of a million words per minute.

Ok, well it is now a quarter to 6pm and is time for afternoon tea. Need to find some food to hold us until dinner time at 10pm.

Just a reminder..

As my friend Skye is quick to point out, I live a pretty tough life.. Living this close to the beach can be a chore, especially with neighbors like ours. However, I keep pointing out to him that I have to get up and leave everyday to go to work during the best part of the day...

We got our bags for Argentina

Ah, Che Guevara...you have graced the walls of so many college students who haven't the slightest idea who you are..

For those of you that want to know more, click on the link below:

http://www.time.com/time/time100/heroes/profile/guevara01.html

Swayback Disease

I have recently begun to notice that the problem with much of this city's young females is that they have, what Liz has coined, "swayback disease". Those of you unfamiliar with this phenomenon will begin to notice it everywhere. You spot a young girl (anywhere from pre-teen up through mid college) and wait for them to stop walking. As they stand around, chatting on their cell phones, they begin to relax, and their bellies begin to protrude between their skirt and midrift - if you haven't been watching and suddenly come across one of these girls, you immediately think that they have a pot belly! When in fact, if they simply stood up straight, the belly goes away and they go back to looking like Kate Moss...(I know I sound old and crotchety here and I don't care...Stand up straight damned!).

So, Liz and I were walking along in the mall, and I stopped dead in my tracks, said a little prayer to the gods of Madison Avenue (please stop!) and pointed out that all of the mannequins in the window at Charlotte Russe all had contracted the deadly swayback disease! I managed to find a picture of it on line - you can buy her here.

Photos Part 2

Fantastic Pictures of Katrina Coming Ashore

Got these from my Dad -

Our very own Prince Phillip

So the great Eddie Izzard turned me on to the rambling stupidity that is Prince Phillip of England. I typically have had little interest in the Royals, even with the hype that was stirred up post Diana tragety. One of my favorites is "don't stay too long in Japan, or you'll go all slitty eyed" which was sad to a group of visiting students in Japan.

Other favorites include:

"Do you know they have eating dogs for the anorexic now?"
Said to a blind woman with a guide dog.

Also, he once greeted Helmut Kohl as "Reichskanzler", the title Hitler gave to himself which as never been used since.

"If it has got four legs and it is not a chair, if it has got two wings and it flies but is not an aeroplane, and if it swims and it is not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it."
Said at a World Wildlife Fund meeting in 1986

Well, it seems that we now have our own aging Royal. The foot in the mouth award goes to..(drum roll, please...) (DRUMS..PLEASE) - BARBARA BUSH!!

Barbara Bush, who accompanied the former presidents on a tour of the Astrodome complex Monday, said the relocation to Houston is "working very well" for some of the poor people forced out of New Orleans.

"What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality," she said during a radio interview with the American Public Media program "Marketplace." "And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."

This really is akin to "your problem is you are all poor....bye!" (appologies to Eddie Izzard)

Konos Quote of the Week

For those of you that haven't been to Konos, it isn't exactly a linen table cloth type of place...