So, survived another December.
At what cost?
Who knows.

Since my neighbors killed their wireless internet connection so I've been without internet for the last few weeks. Not really a huge ordeal but sometimes it would have been convenient to go online of course.
Will get my own connection asap.

Thanks goes out to Bas and Tamara for sending some chocolate. No Tim Tams but anything different than American tastes good!
After 4 months I can honestly say the food tastes a lot less rich than I'm used to. It tastes a bit stale as though they try to put as little stuff into it. Think I should check out some of the Delicatessen stores.

Biggest news is probably that I now have my own car. It's an old 1990 Toyota Corella but it's just the thing I need. It runs and that's the way I like it.
Went to downtown last week which was easier than I thought, only to get lost for a short while on the way back. Oh well, the movie (Kurosawa's "Hidden fortress") was worth the fuss.

Have seen quite a share of movies during the last two weeks. I'll say some brief words about a few of them.
"Walk the line": Johnny Cash biopic with Joaquin Phoenix leading the viewer to the ups and down of this American idol. Not a classic but very good and enticing throughout the entire length.
"Memoirs of a geisha": Though I haven't read the book (yet) the movie makes me want to read it. The makers have paid a lot of attention to the visuals and it looks impressive. The acting is good and most of the dialogues in English, though I would have preferred it to be in Japanese. The story is quite predictable but enjoyable nonetheless.
King Kong: Peter Jackson's rendition of the 1933 edition is an exhilirating ride from start to finish. He takes time to establish his characters in the beginning of the movie and tension is build up to new peaks before we finally get a glimpse of Kong. I've always been a huge fan of these monster movies and Jackson's reputation to be impeccable no matter what genre he tackles is held high. Though some of the CGI is a tad weak it is necessary to recreate the prehistoric population of Skull Island.
No classic but vintage blockbuster.

"Munich": After the immensely horrible and ultimately disappointing "War of the worlds" I was curious if Spielberg would still have something to say in movie world. Considering the topic of this movie one's expectations are high.
Stylistically it's a breathtaking ride. Acting is excellent with Geoffrey Rush in villainous role and Eric Bana ("Chopper", "Incredible Hulk") as the leading character heading the small group of men on a crusade of revenge. While in some spots Spielberg merely brushes the surface of some profound topics it feels good that the movie is not as pro-Israel as I feared it might be. The message is clear and in Eric Bana's character the viewer can recognize the effects of this ongoing violent history between the Israelis and Palestines. All just for a piece land of their own. To call home.

The best chocolate cookies in the whole wide world are TimTams!
Definitely life savers when I was traveling in Australia and New-Zealand. These Arnott's cookies made up for my breakfast, lunch and often late night snack as well.

Very difficult to find outside Oz but colleague Niels found a link to a US webstore who have them:
http://www.simplyoz.com/

A note of warning; many people who have tasted TimTams have become addicted to them and even have fights on the Internet about the similarity to the British Penguin cookies.

Anyway, feel free to get that well-known Christmas spirit and send me some TimTams...

I fear I did something wrong this year: no Sinterklaas presents whatsoever.

Instead a water flooding at the University's server so we couldn't do anything on the network today. I went back home and worked there.
I tried to warm up some donuts for breakfast but they turned out black and very smelly.
Lastly, the VM server seems down as well.

Do we need more bad omens?? I think Sint and his Zwarte Pieten will kidnap me to Spain....
That's actually not a bad prospect ha!

So if you won't hear from me again after tonight's Thai dinner I'll be scuba diving in Spain...

There's not much which can compete with a lazy Saturday afternoon, drinking tea while listening to Nick Cave.


Yeah I downloaded the B-sides album since I missed it too much.
I just close my eyes hearing Nick croon at his best and I'm back on the vast Australian roads and highways of the Great Ocean Road...

Time is surely flying, just a few weeks left before the Christmas vacation. There's something else up the road too but I'm successfully blocking that out of my mind ha!

One of my fave songs on the 3-CD B-sides is "Time Jesum Transeuntum Et Non Riverentum".
Mesmerizing...

http://www.kongkicksass.com/
Bloody brilliant haha!

So another December commences.
How I loathe this month.

It's been awhile, I even got an e-mail from Bas asking me if I was THAT busy
obviously, not really hehe!

I have posted 2 new pics on my photobucket site: http://photobucket.com/albums/a137/Saldiac/Pittsburgh/

The weather never stops to amaze me: last week the temperature dropped to zero but in the weekend it was around 10 degrees Celsius. Right now it's freezing...

A few facts about Pittsburgh I've heard during the last few weeks:
-Supposedly, Pittsburgh is THE city in the U.S. which has the most rainfall during the year.
Even more than Seattle...
-Furthermore, research has shown that Pittsburgh is by far the worst U.S. city to be single in.

I'm doomed!

What have I been up to next to CMU work?
Well, pretty much more of the same old stuff:
writing reviews and interviews for VM, buying too many CD's, going to the cinema (5 movies in 1 weekend a while ago hehe!) and eating the typical 'bachelor cuisine'.

The house still looks like crap ha! Besides some small stuff like buying more towels and sh*t like that, no furniture.
But I do have a list of non-furniture things I need to buy/do. E.g., still no TV/DVD so home cinema at some point in time. Better soon than late I need a car: really, without a car getting groceries while it's freezing is not that much fun. Also, since the city is pretty big and not wanting to figure out all the lame bus schedules a car is definitely not just a luxury thing but a necessary means to get anywhere besides the city center and the surrounding areas.
Last but not least I'm thinking about a spring break in the Florida Keys. That could be quite expensive with the high accomodation costs down there but it's THE place to go to when you're into diving.
Besides, I need more dive certificates damn it!

Right enough ranting for now, will try to do without the slacking but who knows what December brings?