From Abu Gharib to Frankfurt

Well, I now know what human rights violation is all about and it happened right here to us in Frankfurt. Some surly looking lads with blond hair and crew cuts at the Irish local - O'Rileys requested "I'm too sexy" by Right Said Fred. No less than 20 secs in the song had the shirt come off, then came the shorts, then the boxers. I had recognised one of his cohorts down in the gents earlier when we were chatting about ballocks (as you do after you've had a few pitchers of larger) who it was obvious he was on leave from the army base in Kuwait. Perhaps his love, love was going to leave him wanted to woo her back with his romantic entreaties.

That Saturday night at O'Rileys was fun for a change (or "neat" if you're still teaching English after 30 years in school in New Zealand), so it's nice to know there are some parts around the Bahnhofviertel (station surroundings) which have a social pulse. I met up with three ozzie dudes, a Canadian (he said the stories of bears and moose roaming the streets are all true) and six Americans. I had also met a guy earlier that evening who was from Wellington, but he was clearly more interested in being a walking hormone than chatting with the group. I counted no less than five women in the space of as many minutes who he tried to woo. Unfortunately for them some found him as transparent as the New Zealand Police internal inquiry process, so he found some Spanish shelas to hang out with. I dubbed him the Cloonster - just about everything was a mirror image of the actor (stubble included).

The now weekly game of squash happened again this Sunday - Michael bought along a mate and played round robin tournaments. I am happy to produdly be rekindled with my hand calluses - the squash palm is back!

This week is BAU (haven't formed a process as yet for said business - I'll keep you in the loop) but I plan to hit Cologne this coming Friday evening and return Sunday afternoon. Last Friday was a sad state of affairs crashing to bed after work for a quick kip (and planning to wake up shortly for an all nighter: "Nacht der Clubs"), but waking up to my next door neighbour wandering around her room creaking with every step. She does every morning at 6.50am and I think she's like the woman off the shining. I have yet to see this mysterious woman (or even if she is a woman), but one thing I'll bet my kingdom on - she'll be headless.

One last thing before I sign off (sort of like Jerry Springers comments at the end of his show), if you're looking for a new electonic artist to get in to, see if you can find Erland Oye (the O is like a Danish strikethrough O) and the album is called unrest. It's old, but if you like a couple of songs from Kinds of Convenience, you'll most likely love Erland. Kings of Convenience are playing in Germany next month and in a couple of weeks, I think I'll be going to Rammstein in Frankfurt - aprently their live stuff is pretty good.

Take care of yourselves, and each other.