Eluctronic

saw elizabethtown last night & it wasn't the failure/fiasco i heard it might be. it made me really look forward to my long drive to chicago tonight.

the colbert report premiere was filled with truthiness. "i don't trust books - they're all facts, no heart." may stephen's reign last a thousand millennia.

I can’t remember if it was the late 19th century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche or pop rocktress/actress Ashlee Simpson who asked, “Whatcha been doing? Whatcha been doing? Woah woah…Haven't seen you ‘round…”.

I wish I could explain my blogging absence my saying that I’ve been preoccupied entering a code into a computer every 108 minutes in a mysterious underground island compound, but really my last semester of law school has just been wicked busy.

My weekdays have been filled with getting my habeas corpus on, weekends are for bringing it super-hard, and all of that has been dipped in chocolate with a hard candy shell.

I just got back from a Yom Kippur-tastic getaway in Florida. Here I am enjoying the sand and surf with Mr. Ray.



Tomorrow I am leaving for Chicago to see friends and my third Decemberists show in the past month. If I were to ever find myself swallowed into the belly of a whale with only one band, I totally hope it would be these guys.

It’s good to be back in the bloggin’ game, y’all.

Paris, France
train to
London, Enland
plane to
Toronto, Canada
plane to
Dallas, Texas
car to
Paris, Texas

i wake up @ 6 am tomorrow & begin my epic journey back to the states.
it's been a long, beautiful, strange trip.
thanks for staying in touch, guys.
see you soon.
ciao.

paris is obviously the ike turner of cities - no how much i don't like it, i always come back to it.

the last time i was here was like 6 years ago & my stay was admittedly short. but i was less than impressed then & it seems like the same rings true today.

our hotel is super-cool and kind of in an interesting area (although the hotel staff is über-french & about as friendly as beret-clad zombies). we are right around the corner from the moulin rouge & the red-light district. so, you think it would be easy to bring it super-hard. unfortunately, the reality is "non!"

we have not found any super-cool bars & french people should spend less time criticizing american foriegn policies and more time working on their beer recipes. french beer is terrible - and we have tried a lot of them. we also tried a dutch beer called "maximator" that i believe a hobo wouldn't touch.

i might try switching to wine, which might bankrupt me considering how expensive paris is (7 dollar coca-cola, anyone?).

i wish i was rapping my trip up back in berlin. at least those 4 years of french are flooding back to me. here is 5 other phrases i have picked up:

1. je regrette d'avoir mangé les cinq hot-dogs avant d'être monté dans cette grande roue.
translation:
i regret having eaten those five hot-dogs before boarding this ferris wheel.
2. comment!? ce chien vient de me demander l'heure!!!
translation:
how's that!? That dog just asked me for the time!!!
3. qui a mis la crème fraîche à fouetter dans mon sac à dos?
translation:
who put the whipped cream in my backpack?
4. ma girafe ne boit que de soda à basses calories.
translation:
my giraffe only drinks diet soda.
5. naturellement je connais jay-z!
translation:
of course i know jay-z!

the time has come to say, 'auf wiedersehen' to good ol' berlin - quite possibly the coolest city ever. seriously, i am giving berlin two very enthusiastic thumbs up. this place has seriously gotten their stuff together since all of that ruckus. i am just upset i have not had the song 'the metro' by the band berlin on my ipod. i really, really, really would like to be here next summer for world cup.

tonight we are taking a night train to paris. hopefully, we will be able to score some night train for the night train. my last time in paris left me with lukewarm feelings about it. i am kind of ready to check it out again. i want to buy some le petit prince stuff, drink some wine, and revel in my general americaness. although hostel life has been a wealth of weirdness, funny experiences, and good stories i think we have decided in paris we are going to stay in a hotel. i need a couple of nights of some good rest and am sick of being awakened by a couple of dutch dudes talking about 'ham sandwiches'.

only a couple of days until i blow this popsicle stand and head back to the states. again, i get into dallas-fort worth on august 10 at 8:25 pm. i expect to be eating some chips and salsa around 9:45 pm. i can not wait to see everyone.

seriously, i never thought i would say this - ich liebe deutschland. i am the new berlin wall - try and tear me down.

only 6 days left before i return state-side and i finally made it to berlin. it's pretty awesome. we have been bringing it super-hard courtesy of beer, energy drinks, and sheer determination to get in there. we were at a club last night that was supposed to be playing indie music and 'cross-over alternative'. i am not sure what 'cross-over alternative' is, but i am fairly certain it is not 50 cent or red hot chili peppers (whom they did play).

i ran into a friend from the law program here by surprise. as i was saying goodbye to her, i told her i would love to visit san fransisco and would see her then. a german dude overheard us speaking english, assumed we were americans, and said that he would see us in hell. to which my friend replied, 'you mean germany?'. again, i am not a badass, have no travel insurance, and am not ready for a fight.

so, i decided to duck into an internet cafe and let that dude focus his anger elsewhere.

in the meantime, i am going to get back to getting in there.

see everyone soon.

this weekend we went to czech bowl xii - the czech "super bowl" for american football.

like so many things in the czech republic, it is always fun to see how american culture gets filtered through eastern europe. here are a few highlights:

1. in our attempt to buy a ticket and get into the stadium, we took a wrong turn and ended up inside without paying. seriously, security is not exactly top-notch.

2. beer was very, very, very, very, very cheap and the fumbles/turnovers were aplenty. it is kind of easy to make up a drinking game that will get you really, really drunk.

3. the game was between the prague lions and the prague panthers. the lions were victorious.

4. players on the sidelines spent more time dancing to the music than playing football. i could have redshirtted on to the prague panthers at any given moment.

5. i was eerily too close in predicting the half-time spectacular would consist of the musical stylings of m.c. hammer and the comedic talents of bob saget.

6. the cheerleaders were not so good at leading cheers. i want to buy them a copy of "bring it on" on digital video disc really bad.

7. after the game, we were somehow able to wonder on to the field in a drunken stuper and take photos you could never get at the actual superbowl.

that's all i have to say about that. please enjoy the following selection of my favorite photos from the american/czech football event of 2005.

furthermore, i am really beginning to love the total and absolute lack of tort law here in the czech republic. you can do almost anything at a bar. just when i thought you couldn't beat drunken street luging, our usf professor took us to a bar that had rock/wall-climbing. i'll get some photos posted - but needless to say she is my favorite professor ever. i am going to start looking for a bar where you can do drunken invasive surgery. i have been wanting to do some shots and spinal surgery.

pivo & tampa bloom
Originally uploaded by txlucas.

one of the guys bringing beers through the czech bowl stadium looked just like orlando bloom's younger, less-successful brother. so i dubbed him "tampa bloom". he told us that he would keep the beers coming to us as quick as possible because "czech football is very bad". you can't really tell in this particular photo, but he is one elf costume away from being a motion pitcture sensation.

we are the champions
Originally uploaded by txlucas.

i was rooting for the prague panthers. but hopped on the prague lion bangwagon after their victory. seriously, we should not be on the field at this moment or standing this close to the star player.

scooby gang
Originally uploaded by txlucas.

after czech bowl, we saw the most awesome van ever. we wanted to steal it, drive it around, and solve mysteries like the scooby doo gang. the only mystery we couldn't solve is why none of us haven't been alcohol-poisoned.

ray,luc,&trophy
Originally uploaded by txlucas.

security was low. i mean really low. i could have stolen the czech super bowl trophy and gotten away with it - even with the massive amount of beers i had consumed. instead i settled on a funny photo that looks like i am touching it with ray.

hagrid
Originally uploaded by txlucas.

it looks like the prague lions have been recruiting their players at hogwarts. this dude is big. i think he was more interested in eating frank, knifer, & i than taking a photo.

faux bob
Originally uploaded by txlucas.

misty & bob are the coolest couple ever. and while bob was busy getting his bathroom on in the portapotty, i borrowed his hat and filled in as "faux bob". misty was kind enough to kneel down and assist the illusion of how tall bob is.

tag - i'm it.
Originally uploaded by txlucas.

i think this graffiti looks like my name. others think it looks like "luxis".

booze + bobsled = bruising
Originally uploaded by txlucas.

if the xgames ever add a drunken street bobsledding competition, i am goin' for the gold. yesterday we went to the coolest bar ever on top of a giant hill in rural prague. they had cheap drinks, delicous outdoor grilled food, foosball, and - oh yes - bobsledding. today all of our bodies are looking mighty patriotic - red, white, and blue.

luckily, they eventually cut us off. i was one johnny knoxville-moment away from regretting not having travel insurance. i have always wanted to yell in a bar, "i'll tell you when i've had too many!" - i just never thought it would be in reference to street luging.

on the subway ride to the bobsled, i saw the earphones of my ipod trailing out of my bag. acting with puma-like speed, i quickly slapped this dude's hand who was trying to steal my ipod and yanked it back from him. i will let thieves try to take a lot of things - but my passport and ipod aren't on that list.