bored at work.

My week has been terribly devoid of excitement. On Saturday I was so motivated to go big, but unfortunately by the time we rolled up to this new night being launched by Teki Latex, the lineup was too huge and we were too cold. Other than that, my weekend was spent roaming the parisian streets lost in deep thought, eating too many pastries and sitting in cafes, writing and people-watching. Not that those activites aren't enjoyable. But my days of going out until 5am and barely scraping by with 4 hours of sleep per night are becoming a distant memory. Which is ironic because given how slack my internship is, I should be taking advantage of all this free time before school starts again in March.

So, for lack of more superficial things to discuss, I thought I'd post this link to an op-ed piece by Thomas Friedman about the re-launching of the Middle East Peace Process in Annapolis. I tend to agree with most of what he's saying, and I'm willing to bet that nothing concrete will come out of these talks. History has shown that peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians fail when the leaders lack strength and legitimacy. Olmert's popularity is hovering around a dismal 20% right now. Abbas doesn't even control the entire Palestinian territories. The foundations of a lasting peace require risky political decisions and compromise. Given the shaky political ground both of these men are standing on, it is very unlikely that either of them would be willing to sacrifice their political careers for a peace process that, let's face it, looks a lot like a last-ditch attempt by the Bush administration to leave the White House on a positive note.

you're my tenderoni

It's been a week. I was hoping that the strike would be over by now but those assholes are still going strong(ish). Slowly but surely, moderate factions are breaking away from the main unions and voting to go back to work, which explains why buses, metros and trains are running sporadically. However, in what can only be described as the most nonsensical decision ever, certain militant factions have started sabotage missions on major railroads, bus depots and bike stands. What part of "70% of the french population urges the government to stay firm against unions" do these shitheads not understand? The battle is over. Get back to work and stop punishing us for trying to use public transportation.

The train strike made getting down to Tours for tryouts a bit of a hassle, but at least I made it. I played like absolute garbage, but managed to make the first round of cuts. Playing frisbee in this country is an excercise in patience. I just don't understand the logic of what most of the players are doing on the field at any given time. So much chaos, so little strategy, it's no wonder I wasn't on top of my game. It will be another couple of months before I know for sure if I'm on the team. Hopefully by then I will have managed to convince people that I can actually play this sport, and that they should listen to my suggestions.

Look who's in town tonight!!!

these strikes are an outrage.

If I didn't know that my parents sometimes read my blog, this post would be nothing but a series of the most offensive curses I know.

The country is being brought to a standstill because 500 000 workers refuse to give up their generous pension plan benefits. This is a textbook example of flagrant abuse of power by unions. The majority is against this strike. Everyone thinks that pension plans should be reformed. The government was elected on a platform of reform. But instead of directing their displeasure at the government by blocking the ministries or protesting outside the national assembly, the unions are disrupting the daily lives of the portion of the population that doesn't even get to have special pension benefits. This mentality of entitlement is economically destructive, disruptive and absolute bullshit. What exactly are they trying to gain by pissing us off?

Equally outrageous is the strikes going on at public universities over a bill proposal that would give universities more autonomy in managing their affairs, and allow them to seek minimal funding from private sources in order to boost the quality of education. The level of public universities has been free-falling for a long time now, and lack of funding is a major obstacle to improving the situation. Most of the student unions were included in the consultation process and the drafting of this bill. But any memory of that seems to have conveniently been erased from their minds, and the more radical factions have taken over certain universities in France and are literally blocking students from attending class.

These are the kinds of people who, when they were learning about marxism in high school, retained only the part about "private = evil, public = good". Now whenever there is mention of seeking private funding, they claim that the "man" is going to privatize education and that their future is being decided by the corporate dictatorship. These are also the people who rail against the police state for stifling their freedom of expression, yet they are using violent tactics - like beating up and intimidating people who are trying to go write their exams - to get their point across. Don't they see the irony?

DIMWITS.

the unforgettable fire.

I'm leaving for Dublin this afternoon. I am so excited. It probably has something to do with the fact that I had a serious adolescent obsession with U2.

There I said it.

Now this piece of information is forever engraved in the blogosphere. Achtung Baby remains one of my favourite albums of all time. I still watch youtube clips of the ZooTV live in Sydney tour. My brother had it on video casette and I think I watched it so much that he tried to hide it from me so that I wouldn't break it from overuse. I sing along to One everytime it comes on in a store, even if it's that Mary J. Blige live version. I vehemently maintain that Bono has one of the best voices in music. Well, HAD...he's sounding a little thin these days. Also, he's become a bit of a pompous ass. Zooropa was probably their last great album, since then their musical genius has fizzled.

So here, for you while I'm off in U2-land, live performance of two of my favourite songs.