Thoughts on Californism Part III

Here's some type of Best Of to do list:
Best food: Burma Superstar
Like I said before, never had food as tasty as that. And the fact that you have a common table and everyone can eat from the dish of the other person and..just go there, best thing ever.
Best fastfood: In-N-Out
Despite Fatburger, Carl's Jr and whatever else, In-N-Out still rules in terms of freshness and taste.
Best sand: Venice Beach
Well, Venice...washed out, but what can I do? Still the best place to swim, surf and everything else.
Best place to avoid: malls and outlets
Don't waste your time going there, even if you are into shopping.
Best coffee: Peet's Coffee
Whoever told you that there is no good coffee in the US has been lying. Peet's ist just as good of a coffee as you can get outside of Italy. I personally can't think of an Austrian coffee shop or café serving better coffee. It's not all Strabugs.
Good city to visit if you stay off the redneck areas:
San Diego(Don't miss out on Balboa Park)
Best channel(TV): ESPN
I wished all US channels were like ESPN and that ESPN would show some European football too. But really, the people who work for them, apart of Stephen A. Smith, really know their sports, unlike European(German) Sports channels were mainly people talk lots of blabla not worth the money. But watching ESPN is one of the better things you can do, as there's probably no sports channel almost as good as them.
Best channel(radio): NPR
NPR is the one perfect channel. It has great in depth analysis on politics and news, it plays decent music, it's hosted by people with some sense of humour not taking themselves too serious(unlike an Austrian "alternative" channel) and you can basically listen to them all day. Make sure to download the excellent podcasts as well, specially All Things Considered.

Some other things to see include the Amoeba music store, The Getty, Downtown L.A., Fisherman's Wharf(but mainly for the seafood/only if you like seafood) and Berkeley. I haven't done all of that yet though, you got to keep something open for next time.

Thoughts on Californism Part II

Looking back after yesterday, maybe the best thing about California was not seeing so much football. Barca's game last night was just utterly depressing and right now, I guess it's more a matter of Rijkaard wanting to leave than anything else.
I stayed up until 1.30 am to watch the NCAA Elite Eight games. Impressed once more by UCLA. Surprised that North Carolina won with 10 points against Louisville. But it's all good.
A quick look at the cities: I saw too little of LA unfortunately, only Santa Monica, a bit of Wilshire, but not the areas I wanted to visit, which was down to my means of transportation sucking bad. But LA is great, sort of. Just stay off the Tehrangeles path and you are safe. My next stop was San Diego, which is in some ways a wonderful city, because basically more than half of the people speak Spanish and not English, the weather is just incredible, Balboa park is even more incredible and overall, the city and the whole county is just wonderful from both city-built and nature view. The big problem might be that San Diego is a city dominated by Navy, Army and whatever else so you might just find the occasional redneck more easily than anywhere else in California.
But given the weather, who gives a ffffff


Vegas was sort of interesting. I still have a love/hate relationship with Vegas. I really don't know how to feel about it, but at least right now I see the point of having a city like Las Vegas. It's just a place they need to vent off, most of them at least. I would love to know how the flux to Vegas is but I might guess that it's more frequented by people from SoCal and maybe also the more conservative areas. In some ways, the city is just ridiculous, but it has some type of magic which makes sure you might return.
San Fran was to me the ultimate dream of a city as it combined everything good you have in Europe with the good things of California. It had a decent public transport, it's left-leaning(Nancy Pelosi for president!!) and the city and everything...well it's just a dream.

A good article I read today on the current economic crisis in the US, although I still have my doubts whether this is really the big one.

Thoughts on Californism Part I

I'm back home now from my 2 week trip to California. To me, there's the US and there's California, both are two different worlds. California, maybe it's the weather, maybe the weed, I really don't know, but this whole laidbackness and everything is just great and I can also live very well with friendly people, I don't need what I got here to be challenged. I didn't miss on anything really there, well maybe apart of internet but looking back, I didn't miss much there either.
For football, you got enough channels right now thanks to the growing number of latinos. But better than that, I got really hooked on March Madness(Go Bruins! And if it goes wrong, I bought my NC blue backpack already..), food is great, intellectual challenge is there(I still have to find a radio station in Europe as good as NPR, Financial Times, The Nation, NYT are available everywhere, I can't imagine a university I would rather prefer to study at than Berkeley), basically, you got everything there if you just look after it.
Yeah, alright, the people believe everything you tell them, Arnold is their governor..so what? Does it matter?
What bothered me so far most was the Tehran/Irangelesian style of living in the US, which basically consists of shopping at malls, going to Vegas, hanging out with Iranians all the time and after 20 years of living there, still not being able to speak english decently, plus believing blacks and latinos are some sort of lower people. But then again, that has nothing to do with Cali, but it's maybe more about Iranians.
Eitherway, if you ever hit San Francisco, make sure to visit Burma Superstar. I haven't had food as good as this in my whole life or let's say it's definetly top 5. Incredibly good restaurant.

Friend or Foe?

What I have been thinking and saying for a while...did Obama's spiritual father say anything really bad?
Tales from my father

Gay Borders

IMG_0097, originally uploaded by Jordi Vendetta.

According to Borders, this is a Gay & Lesbian magazine..
very interesting..

WilshireFairfax

IMG_0099, originally uploaded by Jordi Vendetta.

We'll always love Big Poppa

I want this and nothing else...

you don't care about anything else when you have this...no culture, no art, no life..just this

Oooh, Cali??

[Biggie] Yo!
[P. Dad] Yo Big wake up wake up baby
[Biggie] Mmm, yo...
[P. Dad] Yo Big wake yo' ass up c'mon
[Biggie] I'm up! I'm up. *mumbling* I'm up I'm up
[P. Dad] Big, wake up!
[Biggie] I'm up baby, what the fuck, man? What's up?
[P. Dad] C'mon now it's a quarter to six we got the 7:30 flight
[Biggie] Mmm, *mumbling* yeah
[P. Dad] Yo Big Big, Big
[Biggie] Yeah I hear you dogg, I hear you, alright, 7:30
[P. Dad] Yo take down this information
[Biggie] Ain't no pen
[P. Dad] Tell your girl then to remember it or somethin
[Biggie] Aight honey, yeah write this down
[P. Dad] Aight, ummm, flight five-oh-four
[Biggie] Five-oh-four
[P. Dad] Leaving Kennedy
[Biggie] *mumbling* Kennedy
[P. Dad] On the L-A-X
[Biggie] Oh! Cali??
[P. Dad] No doubt baby, you know we gotta get this paper
[Biggie] Ahh, no doubt, aight
[P. Dad] You aight?
[Biggie] I'm up, I'm up
[P. Dad] Yo Big
[Biggie] I'm UP man
[P. Dad] Flight five-oh-four
[Biggie] Alright 7:30 I'ma meet you at the airport
[P. Dad] California
[Biggie] Yeh

When the lala hits ya lyrics just splits ya
Head so hard, that ya hat can't fit ya
Either I'm witcha or against ya
Format venture, back through that maze I sent ya
Talkin to the rap inventor
Nigga wit the game tight, Bic that flame right
Spell my name right, B-I, Double-G, I-E
Iced out lights out, me and Cease-a-Leo
Gettin head from some chick he know
See it's all about the cheddar, nobody do it better
Going back to Cali, strictly for the weather
Women, and the weed -- sticky green
No seeds bitch please, Poppa ain't soft
Dead up in the Hood, ain't no love lost
Got me mixed up, you drunk them licks up
Mad cause I got my dick sucked
and my balls licked, forfeit, the game is mine
I'ma spell my name one more time, check it
Its the, N-O, T-O, R-I, O
U-S, you just, lay down, slow
Recognize a real Don when you see Juan/one
Sippin on booze in the House of Blues

Chorus: repeat 4X

I'm going going, back back, to Cali Cali

Verse Two: Notorious B.I.G.

If I got to choose a coast I got to choose the East
I live out there, so don't go there
But that don't mean a nigga can't rest in the West
See some nice breasts in the West
Smoke some nice sess in the West, y'all niggaz is a mess
Thinkin I'm gon stop, givin L.A. props
All I got is beef with those that violate me
I shall annihilate thee
Case closed, suitcase filled with clothes
Linens and things, I begin things
People start to flash, 818's, 213's
313's, B.I.G.
Frequently floss hoes at Roscoe's
If I wanna squirt her, take her to Fatburger
Spend about a week on Venice Beach
Sippin Crist-o, with some freaks from Frisco

Chorus

Verse Three: Notorious B.I.G.

Cali got gunplay, models on the runway
Scream Biggie Biggie gimme One More Chance
I be whippin on the freeway, the NYC way
On the celly-celly with my homeboy Lance
Pass hash from left to right
Only got five blunts left to light, I'm set tonight
Paid a visit to Versace stores
Bet she suck until I ain't got no more, only in L.A.
Bust on bitches be-lly, rub it in they tummy
Lick it, say it's yummy, then fuck yo' man
Fuck your plan, is it to rock the Tri-State?
Almost gold, 5 G's at show gate
Or do you wanna see about seven digits
Fuck hoes exquisite, Cali, great place to visit

C'e solo una famiglia, c'e solo Inter

Inter should actually be a club to dislike in a sense. Lots of money spent, rightwing fans,team full of names...however, that's only on the surface. On the inside, Inter is different and one of the few clubs to support, despite everything.
Because Inter is led by a fan, who unfortunately in the past acted too much as a fan, but what can you say? He is a fan. Inter has as captain a guy who for 12 years now is running up and down the flank like few other people did. And, Inter has as president a guy for whom Inter is not just his team, but his family.
In days of Russian and American owners, powerpoint-rationalist presidents or Tourette-syndrome obnoxious presidents, Moratti remains a figure to cherish and support. May it be a great centenary uncle Massimo! Forza Inter!