Where have you been?

This picture shows an original fresco in Malbork Castle that was covered after it was compleated in the 14th century but re-discovered in the mid-19th century during restoration. I tried to find information about it online but there seems to be limited resources about this castle. Anyone have any more details?

I don't have a lot of time to add text today but I wanted to be sure to post some photos of Malbork Castle. As I said the tour sucked but the castle itself was interesting. The history is very interesting as well and more informaiton can be found at Wikipedia as well as the Malbork Castle Museum website itself.

Watching TV last night I caught part of the USA France FiVB World League match. From the standings USA seems to be doing okay but the other groups have what look to be more dominant teams. In Poland ther are three leagues (A, B, and Cup) each for men and women. I'd provide the links for the Polish leagues but I can't find english versions...

Another photo from the Singto Muay Thai Network. This one features two youth fighters going for glory and honor in front of a packed house. As always ref Ryan Rudkin is on top of the action.

A good way to judge a society is by the sports they broadcast on television. America, for example, has many "World" series, champions, etc, that are only open to American teams. Not only that but during the championships of said world leagues stage shows with frequent "wardrobe malfunctions" and hit songs from the 1980's often take precedence. Rather then marketing and the bottom line sports on Polish TV seem to focus on sports at which Poles excel.

For example the Met-Rx World's Strongest Man competitions (and associated local events) are frequently shown on TV here because last years champ, Mariusz Pudzianowski, is Polish. A popular winter sport is Ski Jumping because one of the best ski jumpers (if not the best) is Poland's Adam Małysz. They are both so famous they have Wikipedia pages!

Another sport with massive TV time is men's Volleyball. This is not beach volleyball with babes running around in small bikinis. This is rough and tumble indoor volleyball where every player is at least 6 foot 4 inches and can pancake a weak defense on every set. I can usually find a Polish or European league match just about every day and several at the weekends. I don't know any of the big teams but the stadiums always seem to be filled to the brim and some of my students claim to have a favorite team.

Volleyball seems to hold the status many other European countries put on football. One of my student pointed out that the volleyball players in Poland are professional while football here is amateur. The professional footballers go play elsewhere...

A still life photo of my winter gloves from Germany and my Sony Ericsson phone from the UK. I like the way the color of the two items contrast.

Alright, although I don't want to post frequently in a single day and then not again for several weeks I have decided to post another photo for this fine Wednesday. This photo is of Loch Ness in Scotland. Loch Ness is not the most beautiful loch nor is it the most historically relevant; it simply has a good PR agency. Inverness is located on the north tip of the loch and is certainly both beautiful and relevant and worth a visit.

While I was in Scotland I stayed at BazPackers in Inverness. BazPackers is a hostel located in the heart of the city a stone's throw from the castle. I met many really nice people there including two Canadan girls backpacking/working their way across Asia and Europe. Good luck making it home! I also met a really sweet Austrailian couple who make it their life project to live and adventure in new countries. They spent three months in a camper exploring northern Scotland for example. I was there for four days.

Another interesting person I met was a homeless woman/drifter who was there for the night. She took a fancy to me and offers were made but luckly my will-power overcame and I slept alone that night. But thats a story for another time...Hostels are always a good bet when seeking adventure.

Polish people are very into their dogs. Almost everyone has a dog or two. Unfortunately it is very uncommon for people to have them spayed/neutered and there is a huge problem with strays. Additionally, the pound where we picked up Kobra has over a thousand dogs. Everyone claims dogs are much healthier if they have puppies once. This only works for the females so I guess for male dogs it must be the "oh, I can't do that to him..." excuse. Amazing and very sad.

Another problem is that although its law that you must pick up after your dog no one does. If you venture off the pavement chances are you'll step in something unplesant if you are not careful. I have "hit pay-dirt" several times myself. When I mentioned this to my girlfriend she commented that its good luck to step in dog shit. Her mom confirmed and said I must be very luck considering how many times I've done it. Yes, very lucky indeed.

Another photo from the back of our apartment.

It is never fun to watch kids fight but man is it fun to watch kids fight. Anyone ever seen a 10 year-old knocked out cold? I have. He got dropped like a sack of shit with a fierce elbow to the jaw. Excellent.

Famlies in the West baby their kids relative to the young fighters in Thailand but the fights over here can be exciting as well. This photo shows the Singto Champion Shane Littlechild issuing out the beat-down to one of many of his victims. Er, opponents. But thanks to the alway cool and in-control refereeing of up and comming referee Kru Ryan Rudkin no one was hurt.

...to watch the Champions League final between Liverpool and some Italian team. Unfortunately the Italians won but not before they could show typical Italian sportmanship. Naturally all footballers are cheats and play dirty but Italians seem to do it with more style. For example, when this particular Italian team beat Man U in the last round several of the players developed "cramps" in their legs that required medical attention on the pitch, after only 70 minutes of play. Humm, professionals who are paid quite well should at least be able to play a full 90 minutes without succumbing to fatigue. Last night was no exception and they tried to run the clock out using this tactic. Fortunately the Ref was having none of it and would help the "injured" player off the pitch so play could resume. Naturally they would bounce back up immediately after the Ref's almost god like healing touch to reenter the game. But this was not enough as Liverpool lost 2-1. Oh well, better luck next time English Football...

Another photo from my going away party. This features my younger step-brother.

This weekend I went on a day trip to Marbork Castle with my girlfriend, her parents, and their dog Tosia. It was a nice trip and the castle was as intersting as it was grand. We took a tour of the castle, which is sort of mandatory, that ended up being boring as hell though. We had to buy a Foto/Video pass too which was pretty lame considering we had to fork out for the mandatory tour. The pass said you could not take professional photos/videos for sale. So anyone want to buy a non-professional picture of Marbork Castle?

We also toured around the Mazury area (pronounced like the US state Missouri) which is the "beautiful lake and forest area of Poland." It sorted of reminded me of the area around Texas A&M with lots of wodden areas separated by small towns and various lakes/ponds.

The photo was take at my going away (to the UK) party back in 2004. The guy on the right is a good friend of my from graduate school. If you read this I would love to hear how you are these days and whats new...

Alright, we are back from England and our computer is working good now so I will be posting on a regular basis. Perhaps two or three times a week. I will also try to limit my use of YouTube videos (although many of them are really funny).

We want to say thanks to our friends at Rock Road for letting us stay for the week. We had a nice time visiting with old friends and hanging out in Cambridge.

This video is of the commedian Dave Chappelle and his take on George Bush. This is his idea of what it would be like of Bush were black. I am using the Portugês version because it is uncensored and therfore much more funny. I love how the UN needs to "shut the fuck up."