Where the heart is?

Seems October is shaping up to be my slowest month, blog wise, with a load of random warblings that don't necessarily relate to what it is I'm up to here in the U.S, and I do apologise for that, and I reassure anyone who's interested that I do still intend on writing about the Steelers game I checked out (which was an awesome experience) and all the various other stuff that's been going on that I haven't had time to write about. The problem is because my time 'management' consists of overloading my social calendar, desperately trying to squeeze in some academic stuff, and if there's time after that, throwing a blog entry up for the world to enjoy...

So anyway, I spent this past weekend in Niagara Falls, (Canadian side), and as much fun as I was having, and as cool as the whole thing was, I was really looking forward to going home. Which lead me to wonder; what is 'home' for me?

I've spent a lot of time away from my house in Ireland at this stage, with the co-op debacle in Belgium (that I haven't discussed here, but I may well one of these days to blow off steam), and the few weeks I've been here in Pennsylvania without really communicating much with my family, save for the odd phonecall.

While I was looking at the falls, I was thinking "That's kinda cool". But there was no overwhelming sense of awe, or amazement, or that I was doing anything incredible by being there. Hell, it was smaller than what I was expecting. I really only went there because I felt obliged to. What person can go on an exchange and not poke around the tourist attractions? If the arrangements hadn't been made for me, I probably wouldn't have gone. Same goes for most of the stuff I did in Belgium - I just went places for the sake of it, and after a day or two I was looking forward to going home.

So what is home?

To be honest, I still haven't quite figured that out. It's not Ireland - I know this because I can happily exist elsewhere. It's not my family or friends (both of which I do miss a pile, by the by),and I don't think it's the place where I grew up, or keep my clothes, or get my laundry done for me because I'm a lazy git.

If I would have to explain the strange 'homing instinct', I would say it tells me to return to my base of operations; where I have to be at any given time to achieve my latest objectives.

To sum it up? Home is where the computer is.

Unknown Superpower? Sixth Sense? Energy-drink induced hallucination?

I don't understand why this keeps happening to me, but since coming to Robert Morris - I have an uncanny knack for finding mechanical pencils.

Feel free to laugh at the absurdity of this post, but I've somehow managed to find at least one fully functioning mechanical pencil a week since college started!

So attention all schoolmates! If you ever need to get your doodle on - I'll hook you up!

Crappy American Phones...

Me and my phone haven't been getting along lately.

It's entirely my fault - I dropped it one day, and as a result, every second line on the screen remained blank, which made it less fun to use. After a while, the screen would go completely black, and I'd have to flick the screen with my fingernail to get it to come back. I figured this was something to do with a loose connection or something, but I was happy to spend the rest of my life being mistaken for some Obsessive compulsive type who walks around in public flicking his phone.

Last night the screen went black after I received a text message. So I flicked it. But it didn't come back. So I flicked it harder. It still didn't come back. So I hit it with my knuckle. It still wouldn't work. I threw it on the ground, kicked it around, bounced it off the floor a few times, then picked it up and flicked it some more. Needless to say, it didn't work. So I hit the screen off the corner of a chair. And cracked it. Whoops.

Well, I don't want to bore you with the details of what I got up to after that point, but let me show you what finally came of this $30 phone.



The best part?

It still worked!

Kindof...

I could still dial a call, and since the mic still worked, what I was saying could be heard on the other end. I was missing an earpiece, but I was still determined to see what I could do without the upper half of the phone. The phone didn't vibrate or ring, but the error messages were audible - so there was still a speaker! What followed this discovery at four in the morning was me calling my room phone and laughing hysterically as I realised that the speakerphone function still worked! If I so wanted, I could continue using this phone for the rest of my time here! Granted, I'd have to memorise a ton of numbers, and text messages would be impossible, and the only way to tell when there was an incoming a call would be the keys lighting up, but still! It could be done!

But of course, it won't. Joanna had a spare phone, so I just transferred my account to hers. And if something should happen this one, (by 'something' - I mean if I decide to tear it in half like the last one) there's always Claire's phone that's been gathering dust since she switched to Cingular!

Landed on my feet here, eh? The only part that sucks is going around and explaining to everyone why I need to ask them for their number again... I'll be so tired of this story in a week I'm expecting to see it in highly embellished form on some other blog!

He'll be Ready - Forever and always - He's Always Here!

Anyone who used to follow my Bebo blog should remember that I pledged my support to http://www.gethasselhofftonumber1.com/; a website dedicated to getting a David Hasselhoff to the #1 slot in the UK charts. The way it worked was a user pledges their support and leaves their e-mail address, and when enough users have signed up to guarantee Mr Hoff getting the coveted top spot, a 'Hoff Alert' e-mail would be sent out, prompting thousands to log onto iTunes to download an agreed Hasselhoff 'classic'.

I pledged my support to this because I saw it as a chance to participate in music-history; supporting someone undeserving of the top-spot, hopefully illustrating that a song may not be of any merit yet still be top of the pops. (That, and I thought the ensuing flood of Hasselhoff media-coverage would be hilarious - that guy has a great sense of humour about himself!)

It didn't work 100%- seems they jumped the gun a little to coincide with the UK release of 'Jump In My Car', and my 'Hoff Alert' mail was shot down by Yahoo's overzealous (but mightily effective) spam filter.

Shame! I just checked out the website to see how it went:

"On Sunday 8th October 2006, David Hasselhoff broke all his own records and reached number 3 in the UK Singles Chart with over 26000 copies of "Jump In My Car" sold."

Number three still isn't bad, right? I consider that a successful e-xperiment - and I'd be very curious to see in the coming days how many of those sales were from supporters of this website.

It's a shame that I'm away from home at the mo and unable to appreciate the effects of this valuable social experiment - so maybe you guys can tell me if you've noticed any spike in Hoff references or exposure in the media? (C'mon lads! The comments section is there for more than decoration!)

Anyway - as much as I hate to be seen as one of those lazy bloggers who just posts random videos he finds on YouTube - (2 in 2 days - urk!), I think I'll be forgiven for this one, which is here as it is entirely in context!

Ladies and Gents: if you haven't seen it already, I'd like to invite you to enjoy David Hasselhoff's 'Historic Track'; "Jump In My Car"

"I wanna take you on a rollercoaster"

I found this on YouTube and thought it was pretty cool.

Update 29/09/08: The video was taken offline, and I have no idea what it was from, so I'm happy to just forget about it. Back to the original post:

Tomorrow I should finally get around to a 'real' post for all those interested in hearing about my trip to Wisconsin - or the NFL game I went to, or my trip to the zoo, or my credit card being stolen, or the other Major League Baseball game I checked out... I've been so damned busy with busywork from RMU and getting my Co-op report done for UL... So tomorrow then!

Life's truly unfair...

I wish I was doing better than I am right now, but I can't lie to you, the loyal blog-reading public.

"What is the latest dilemma" I hear the masses ask?

I have a little piece of popcorn stuck in the part between gum and tooth in the back of my mouth, and it really bothers me.

How did this travesty occur? Where did I find the materials to inflict such pain upon myself?

I went to see Jackass 2 last night. It was hilarious! I have't laughed so hard since the first Jackass film. Granted, I missed the first fifteen minutes or so (lousy women drivers!), which was supposedly a hilarious set piece in the same vein as the first film, but despite this omission I laughed, cried, groaned, squirmed and screamed so hard it hurt a little.

Over the past few years, we've become familiar with the Jackass troupe, and it makes it seem all the more like it's your friend who is freezing his nuts to an ice sculpture, or putting baby-powder in his butthole to create a fart cloud. My favourite was probably the skit involving 'Danger' Ehren, because whatever grief they throw his way is deserved for being such a worthy candidate for 'whipping-boy'. It also has to be said that this film is a testament to Johnny Knoxville's willingness to hurt himself in increasingly elaborate ways (and Stevo is just a danger to himself - but we knew that already).

The film also features gratuitous full frontal male nudity! Girls! Now is your chance to see Wee-man's Wee-penis!

Two thumbs way up!