In a poll released today by the BBC, new proof has been unearthed that Britons are easily as stupid as Americans, likely more. I mean, how stupid can you get? Only 48% find evolution plausible? That’s some stupid shit. So much for a “way better education system”. Just goes to show that America’s policy of stringing an education system toegether with mint dental floss, chewing gum and popsicle sticks is just as good as the UK’s whole “spending money on education” strategy. IN YOUR FACE YOU SUPERIOR FUCKS!

Posted: January 27th, 2006 under Politics.
Comments: 5

One of my favorite things about Dublin is how walkable it is. I’d say it’s even more walkable than New York for the fact that its less crowded, and while stuff might not be as closely packed, the walks tend to be very pleasant. I’m still getting used to which way I have to look before crossing the street. The Irish drive on the opposite side of the road than I’m used to. And it would seem that the city government made some decisions with people like me in mind, because at many crosswalks they’ve painted instructions on which direction to check for cars right on the road. I guess that was cheaper than all the ambulance/hospital costs.

Despite the fact that people drive on the left side of the street, as far as I can tell, it’s just the opposite when it comes to sidewalks. I thought I was pretty clever when I extrapolated that driving on the left meant walking on the left, but then when I put the theory through it’s paces I found that I was causing a lot of undue turbulence, and now that I’ve had some more time to observe people, it seems that I was dead wrong. I wonder what can account for this discrepancy? I shall investigate.

The Stiffy by the Liffey
Originally uploaded by Benjamin Harrison.

Of course, if you go to the right places in Dublin, you don’t even have to worry about this, because there are several major streets off limits to non-government automobile traffic. This is one of my favorite things about Europe. The United States seems to be extremely reluctant to make anything inaccessible to cars. A few years ago near my Bay Area home a major shopping development went up including half a dozen restaurants, two or three dozen shops and a movie theater. This development, called Bay Street, isn’t a mall or a strip mall, but a proprietary street, lined on two sides by shops. A perfect opportunity for a nice little promenade with no automobiles to dodge, but instead they opened the street to cars, making it really obnoxious to try to get from one side to the other, or even see over the behemoth SUVs that always seem to nab the parking spaces along that street. Dublin has many shopping streets without car traffic, and they are markedly easier to traverse. Not that I’ve been doing any shopping.

Posted: January 19th, 2006 under Europe.
Comments: 1

Morning in Dublin
Originally uploaded by Benjamin Harrison.

I’ve arrived in Dublin for a semester of screenwriting. This far north the sun only shows its face for a stretch of about 6 hours during this time of year, which kind of blows my mind. Also, fools are so wrapped up in the whole “Jesus” thing here that most stores don’t open before noon on Sundays, so shots like this one, which I took at 8:30 am, make the place look like a ghost town. I’ll be posting a lot of photos on this trip, so keep your eyes on my flickr page, or just swing by here and I’ll try to post some of the more interesting ones from time to time. I’ll probably have plenty of time for that sort of thing, being that I only have 9 hours of classes a week. 8)

Posted: January 15th, 2006 under Miscellaneous.
Comments: 2

Here’s a crazy-go-nuts video of some dude who seems to have cut a deal with the laws of physics that they won’t go as hard on him as they do on the rest of us. Because seriously, the last time I jumped off a two story building it hurt. This guy just bounces. I guess the dudes are Russian or something. Maybe they’re genetically engineered by the Red Army to be supersoldiers. Link

P.S. Google video is pretty freakin’ sweet.

Posted: January 12th, 2006 under Miscellaneous.
Comments: 2

Espresso Roma
Originally uploaded by Benjamin Harrison.

Café Roma is one of my favorite places to hang out in the East Bay. This is the type of treasure that Berkeley is really good at. The trouble with California is that it’s laid out with the automobile in mind, leaving the avid pedestrian without much in the way of accessibility. However, College Avenue, at this latitude, is a bustling assembly of excellent businesses including top quality world cuisine, frilly bath soap boutiques, orthopedic shoe stores and a quirky little movie theatre that can’t quite decide weather it’s a second run theatre or an art house. Then, commanding the intersection of College and Ashby with a spacious seating area and a well-stocked counter, is Espresso Roma. You park your car on the street for free a few blocks away, and you have as much food, entertainment and relaxation as anyone could want within easy walking distance.

Roma may very well be a franchise. They’ve got a bunch of other locations, but I have a hard time holding that against a place that gets it so right. They’ve struck a great balance between atmosphere, coffee, food and other beverages, that makes the place just too damn nice to be in. This ain’t that plastic-molded hipster feel that you get walking into a Starbucks. They have good food and coffee, and non-retarded clientele.

With an incredibly solid array of caffeinated offerings, most of which they serve in pint glasses, some might consider the average volume of a coffee at Roma a little vulgar. I tend to leave the place feeling ever so slightly overcaffeinated, but it’s an interesting touch to be able to see what the foam in your latté is up to. It’s like drinking an ant farm. In a good way.

In addition to the obvious array of coffee-friendly pastries Roma serves excellent sandwiches (hot and cold) and has a handful microbrews on tap, meaning they’re just as busy after 8 as they are through the day, the clientele putting their laptops and highliters away and loosening their collars. The atmosphere expertly undergoes the metamorphosis from studious to social over the course of the day, meaning Roma is seldom an ill-advised destination.

Roma’s operaters, unfortunately, are still under the impression that WiFi is something people want to pay for in 20-minute increments. They have plenty of patronage, so there isn’t really any incentive for them to make it free, unfortunately, other than that being the right thing to do. The bathroom could also be cleaner and better maintained, but these two gripes aren’t going to stop me from going here anytime soon.

Salient Facts about Roma

Pro: Great atmosphere, above-par coffee/espresso, great sandwiches, interesting beer, awesome location, outdoor dining in the warmer months.

Con: You have to pay for WiFi, the bathroom isn’t 100% clean 100% of the time

Location:The intersection of College and Ashby, Berkeley, CA

Website

Posted: January 10th, 2006 under Coffee Shops.
Comments: 1

Posted: January 6th, 2006 under Miscellaneous.
Comments: none

Weird Clouds
Originally uploaded by Benjamin Harrison.

I just spent a few days visiting friends in Davis, CA. We spotted this bizarre cloud formation on the drive back to the Bay Area. I snapped some pictures to see if I could show them around later and find out what they were. I uploaded two shots to my Flickr account. Send the link around!

If you know stuff about clouds, leave a comment. Tell me what this is! I’m terribly curious.

Sorry I couldn’t zoom in any more. My lens isn’t that long. Maybe I’ll shop around for a new one.

Posted: January 6th, 2006 under Miscellaneous.
Comments: 1