February 2006 – Moneydick

Chronicles of Narnia Rap and Spoofs from Indiana and Santa Monica

February 26, 2006 Daniel2 Comments

Update: And now Natalie Portman wants some love: The Natalie Portman Rap.
I hope soon this hippity hop by the whities will all be over.

Since the extremely popular (NYC based) ‘Chronic {What] cles of Narnia‘ Rap on SNL by Parnell and Samberg there’s been two worthy imitations I’d like to share. The original aired a month ago or so and was spread all the hell around the net. It seemed some amateurs wanted in on the action and were also painfully offended by how cool NYC looked. Below are the two imitations I know about, representing their fine cities.

Lazy Monday: West Coast Rap (Looks like Santa Monica, California)
Lazy Muncy (Indiana) Rap (not redeemed by the cameo by Garfield’s creator Jim Davis)

Some of SNL’s digital shorts are worked on by the folks at The Lonely Island. If you liked Lazy sunday, you’ll like ‘Just 2 Guyz:‘.

Oh and here’s a must see music video that you probably haven’t seen unless you serve in the military. ‘Is this the way to Amarillo‘
You can also find poorly designed T-shirts to wear and impress your lame friends.

Gimmelwald, Grindelwald, Interlaken: Switzerland. Wrapping it up with the Swiss dreamland

February 19, 2006 Daniel2 Comments

To start, I’d like to say that I love Switzerland more than any country I’ve been in. If there was one country I would choose to stay in the rest of my life, it would be this one. To see why I think this way, check out my pictures from the City of Thun and Interlaken, and my Bern photos as well.
I’m now staying in Thun, a city west of Interlaken (the playground of Europe) which is also close to Bern, and also close to every other Swiss city due to the fact that Switzerland just isn’t a very large country. Switzerland is twice the size of New Jersey. Maps of Switzerland are larger than some towns.

All jokes aside, it’s a remarkable land of trees and white-capped mountains, Caribbean-blue lakes and streams, and it also contains the nicest people I’ve met so far. Greets on the street, Gutentags on the bus from strangers, and it also helps that everyone speaks my native tongue.

Thune is a typical Swiss citytown that lacks the tourist-hungry feeling of Interlaken. It’s something else. A mix between Aspen and Santa Cruz, Tahoe and Santa Barbara… but a tenth the size of any of those cities.
Out of Interlaken, 50 minutes west of Thune, I took the steep trains, funiculars, buses and hiked a little bit to the town of Gimmelwald through snow and gale. Gimelwald is a wood cabin town perched on the Swiss alps at 4,485 feet loaded with woodsy alpine goodness and a couple mountain horses who don’t mind the cold. I saw a total of three people in the town, but the books say there’s a population of 140 when everyone isn’t out skiing. [Here’s a map of the Area.] It seems there are certain building and development codes in the cutesy town of Gimmelwald (a good thing) that keeps it a Swiss Gem and a tourist attraction. To get a bite to eat I had to hike up the trail to M?ºrren where a more modern woodsy Swiss apartment style dominates. Though there are a few hostels in Gimmelwald, there’s supermarkets and hotels and many restaurants (and even a ‘disco inferno’ dance club). The trail was uphill and I saw several familes and some solo sledders came sliding past.

On another trip on the Bernese Oberland railway, I went a little higher to Kleine Scheidegg at the base of two of the most massive mountains in the Swiss alps: Eiger and Jungfrau. I took the steep trains up with hundreds of skiiers and snowboarders who cruise down the 5km slopes back down to Grindelwald–not to be confused with Gimmelwald–and wished I had at least something to slide down on. No sled no nothing. So I went on a little trip and found this plank and took it to a very steep slope and hopped on. As it turns out, the rough grains of the wood attach to snow which all holds on to itself and doesn’t move an inch.
Seeing all this good natural stuff makes me wish I had planned more of it into my trip. Cities can be tiring. I will return someday to see the fjords of Norway and the whatnots of who knows where, but for now I’m homeward bound; I expect to be in the air conditioned Los Angeles air by March 14th.

Websites for Travelling Europe

February 13, 2006 Daniel2 Comments

Before I disappear into the Swiss alps I thought I’d share some of the websites I’ve used religiously on my travels. For those who haven’t been keeping up, I’ve been on the windy road since September 20th, 05. Because I’m essentially a computer nerd, the internet has remained a nearly vital part of my experience here. Communication and booking flights are one thing I’ve used the net for, but putting up pictures and researching cities and looking at maps is another big need I have which only my friend the internet can help me with. So to wrap this up, I’ve thrown down my top 10 or so.

Continue reading “Websites for Travelling Europe” →

Les Alps, Strasbourg, Praha Again

February 11, 2006 Daniel1 Comment

A few days ago I went for a ride on the French Alps at ‘Les 2 Alps’ in the Rhone area just south east of Grenoble. The mountain was massive and made any previous California, Colorado, or East Coast ski experience seem like a joke. The funny things French people scream on the slopes (and the large numbers of Dutch folks) made it an even more incredible snowy experience.

It wasn’t too cold, and the mountain itself wasn’t that steep. But the few slopes that were the equivalent double black diamond were steeper than a dutch staircase and loaded with 3 feet wide moguls. I made sure to spend a lot of time on the tricksy area of the mountain. The jumps were fantastic and clearly mowed together with care.

Meeting people with Houses

Much of the living I’ve done over here in Europe has been made more enjoyable and cheaper because many of my high school friends and college mates are studying here with couches mattresses and beds for me to sleep on. Besides these friends I’ve also had luck meeting people who know people who have places to stay and of course with the help of Couchsurfing.com and Hospitalityclub.org. It’s really slick to see a city with the help of a local or a friend.

Heading Back

I’ve been abroad since September 20th, and I’ve been to these cities:

London, York Brighton, Edinburgh, Dublin, Cork, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, Pisa, Lucca Bologna, Rome, Barcelona, Madrid, Hillerod, Amsterdam, Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna, Prague, Milan, Verano, Trento, Venice, Brussels, Bordeaux, St. Emilion, Granada, Lisbon, Sintra, Grenoble, Strasbourg, Wolfisheim, AND Selestat.

Years I have been far from anything like a home, or so it seems. I know there’s so much more to see and do and I’ve broken promises to visit many people over here. There’s nothing quite like home, so that’s where I must return to. My last stop will be the Interlacken area of Switzerland where I hope to become one with the Swiss alps and lock into the ideal natural resonance of the peaks (or something like that). Looking back on this trip I wish I had done more stuff outdoors so I’m ending the trip with some mountain gazing to make up for it.

I’ve used my Eurail pass to its tattered end and logged over 110 hours on European trains in the past month and a half. I would imagine I’ve spent about ever 8th day moving from one place to another. Through these travels I’ve read over 25 books, and I’ve been to over 100 museums. I try to see the top three in each city: National Gallery type, Contemporary Type, and a specialty museum (Aquariums, War Museum, Communism Museum).

I head back to JFK on March 3rd and I’ll be in LA by the 15th. Moneydick.com will resume normal activities. Look for more of Tim’s Diary entries, and stay tuned for some afterthoughts from this trip.

My Favorite Museums

I’ve been to a lot. Listen up: Continue reading “Les Alps, Strasbourg, Praha Again” →

State of the New World

February 3, 2006 DanielLeave a comment

Not missing this part of my home, The New World:

Bush kinda lies¬†

WASHINGTON – One day after President Bush vowed to reduce America’s dependence on Middle East oil by cutting imports from there 75 percent by 2025, his energy secretary and national economic advisor said Wednesday that the president didn’t mean it literally.¬† READ MORE

Caffienated Gum for the Troops

When asked about possible safety hazards associated with misuse of the gum, Balkin said the bad taste of the gum would probably prevent its abuse. “The stuff doesn’t taste that good. It doesn’t taste as good as regular gum, so people are not going to be chewing it for the taste. I think most people will use it for what it’s intended, and that’s to help with alertness,” Balkin said.
READ MORE

¬†

Strasbourg on the 5th, Berlin on the 10th, Munich on the 17th.