i saw a very funny commercial for pepsi this weekend. you would have to know a little about football though (and i mean the european version). the commercial is set in a western town circa 1800’s. in a salon a group of people sit, in dusters, drinking pepsi. in walks a new group in dusters, cowboy hats and football uniforms. the main guy walks to the bar and asks for a pepsi. the bartender slides it down to him but it is intercepted by another guy who has just appeared at the bar. the first guy looks at him, room is hush, and says ‘outside’. then you see a sheriff like referee with a football. he places it on the ground. the two men drop their dusters and hats. it is beckman (man utd) and rivaldo (fc milan). rivaldo stands between the posts of another building. beckman looks around and then whistles. his horse kicks the ball and it flys right by rivaldo, who stands in shock, and through a window of the store he was in front of. everyone cheers, except rivaldo, and beckman gets a pepsi. then suddenly, a guy walks out of the building with the ball that went through the window. it was a barbershop and this guy has a bit of shaving cream on his head and the hair cut cape still on. he doesn’t look happy. apparently this is roberto carlos (real madrid). i’d say this is a to be continued…

btw, the wc’s in praha were very very clean. no smell, no graffiti, everything worked. it was very nice. in fact, the entire city was very clean. oh, and for the record, this was my 4th visit to praha, number 5 will be with patrick in july.

the war goes on and there seems little that an individual can do. a friend remarked it is hard to watch the war, live, and then go to work, but what good does it do to stay home and watch while all goes to hell at the office? i think americans have a habit of watching, instead of getting involve. lots of famous cases of no good samaritans but lots of witnesses. at the same time it only seems fair to expect people to get involved to their personal level of comfort, therefore allowing them to be effective. we should all stretch ourselves a bit though. yeah, anyhow. cheers.

so in ‘about schmidt’ he signs up for one of those ‘adopt an african orphan’ programs. he sends money and writes letters. the thing that kept going through my mind was, ‘what is this company is a sham’? here warren, nicholson’s character, puts love and energy in this organization and child but what happens if it is all a fraud? if the kid doesn’t exist? how will that make him feel. besides feeling duped, i would feel like my emotions were stolen. i guess i a really really tainted at this point in life. i am certainly a doubting thomas. i want to touch the stigmata for sure. but with all the moral corruption around me, all the people in it for themselves, all the lying and cheating and deal making my management and our government representitives partake in…how can i maintain my faith? when everything goes on sale…how can i consider paying this price? see what i mean? i would much prefer a no-haggle, best price the first time, kind of world, but it doesn’t seem to be going that way. i would like to have faith, but i have been burned too many times. what is that you say? what about deferred gratification? well, yes there is something to say for that, but again, too many times, i saw too many good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people, for me to maintain my faith. i hate to ask for proof but hey, let me touch the stigmata, that doesn’t seem so hard. and yes, i realize that my lifetime is little compared to all enternity in heaven or hell, but i am a product of my surroundings and if i take jesus’ teachings to heart (because i come from a judeo-christian society) then i don’t fear i will go to hell. but i also don’t look like those self-righteous purveyors of god’s word and i’m ok with that too. so what is the point? i follow the faith but i ask for proof along the way and i struggle with whether those shoes will go on sale or not. i common terms, i do my homework and make my decision based on the available facts and what faith i can muster. sometimes this means some people don’t get what they should from me and some get more than they deserve but that is the best i can do with the system i face. feels like something is missing though…cheers.

i read an article in details mag last year about couples that dress alike. they showed examples and they were pretty scary. but i think you can’t really help it, especially if one person is buying the clothing. with patrick and i, well, he has fantastic taste but we are a bit heavy on the euro trash thing, i suppose. very dieter some days.

i think that your body changes to be like your mates, too. all those obese american couples, you know. i see this happening to patrick and i as well, though in a very different and strange manner. patrick has cycler’s calves. always has. super hard with big defined muscles. not terribly feminine. now i am getting them. when i was young(er) and just skinny, i had very shapely calves. but then i put on some pounds and my calves were bulbous. worked well with my thick ankles, i suppose. (my dad called me clydesdale when i was a kid). then, as i have lost fat but gained muscle, i am getting cycler like calves. like patrick’s. not feminine. there are girls in korea that get the muscle snipped to have thin calves. i do wish mine were slimmer, but that is a bit much. having cycler’s calves makes finding boots hard. good thing i found some in praha this weekend….oh did i fail to mention that? cheers.