U.S. religious knowledge survey

recently, the pew forum on religion and public life released the results of their recent U.S. religious knowledge survey. sadly, 86% of THE PEOPLE SURVEYED (not americans as they would suggest... it IS an extrapolation afterall), believe in "god" or a higher power. the problem is, most of these people who believe in god/higher power don't really know the tenets or history of what they believe in. it seems they know that church means dressing up the family on sunday, going to church, feeding the kids cookies so they are quiet during the service, listening to the sermon (a.k.a bible cliff's notes), eating some stale bread and wine, and then going home to watch the game. it's tradition, it's a habit (and a bad one at that, in my opinion). many of these people base their personal beliefs and political stances on a book they haven't read. they cherrypick the parts of their book that support their prejudices (homosexuality is bad) but ignore the ones that just aren't fun [no premarital sex, no pork, no eating lobsters, no rare meat, shaving, or cutting of the hair (still, i think that link is a bit strange too. i think since jesus was basically raised a jew as far as we know, he was a jew who stirred a following and started an offshoot that was probably still based in part on judaism. similar to how islam is based on judaism, acknowledges jesus, and is just a 3rd iteration / prophet from the original judaism)].

as usual, i digress. i find it entertainingly ironic that of the people polled (and again, this is but 1/1000 of a percent of the population) that atheists/agnostics topped the poll with the best scores followed by jews, mormons, and the best catholic score coming in 5th. if you are here, more than likely you know i am an atheist. i was raised lutheran until the age of 14 or so when i went to TheMom and said i didn't believe in god. it didn't make sense. math and science explained a lot more than church did for me, and even though there's a lot that science couldn't explain, that set grew smaller every day, something that doesn't happen with religion. TheMom was heartbroken, thinking she raised me wrong, but i assured it had absolutely nothing to do with that. it had to do with my free will and the thinking/analytical mind i was born with. as i got older, she came out as an agnostic. i hope this wasn't from my doing as i'm not much for proselytizing... as long as no one gets hurt, i think everyone has the right to believe what they want. i believe she was agnostic far earlier in her life, but that just wasn't accepted so she fell in line with what she was supposed to do culturally. i don't blame her for this. it is certainly a safer environment now to walk away from religion, at least in the western world.

i've lived in the hindu culture which i am quite fond of in their acceptance of other religions. sadly, those other religions were massive missionary expeditions which i thoroughly despise. i personally witnessed the bringing of clothes, money, food, and classrooms to the young. the parents were hindu and the children converted to mormonism via the missionary church that was set up. i asked the parents how they felt about their children leaving the religion they themselves were brought up in, and they said as long as their children were happy, the parents were happy. i half believed this. hinduism does seem to be a happy, peaceful religion trying to better oneself. on the other hand, they wanted their children to be happy and children are simple creatures. a new pair of shoes, a crisp clean white shirt and new tie all their own, a snack after the service that the parents couldn't afford. the children would be happier, but could it be said their happiness was bought? still, the hindus i met weren't angry about it, they were just trying to give their children a better purchase on a properous life by selling out their religious beliefs.

as for christianity, i've been reading the bible off and on for years as an education tool, a piece of literature. while i was in egypt, i read the qu'ran during ramadan as is typical of most muslims. i read this, too, as an educational tool. many of the muslims i worked with were excited that i was converting. when i explained that i was reading it to educate myself on the culture and the people, i ran in to quite a few who asked me stop reading it because that was not the purpose of the book. that's not to say they are any worse than some christians i've told about reading the bible keeping in mind a high degree of "suspension of disbelief". there are always going to be moderates and fundamentalists in every religion. i fear the fundamentalists in all of them. the same bible-thumping christians who tout their 2nd amendment right to keep and bear arms are usually the ones who claim this is a christian nation, forgetting that the 1st amendment, aside from protecting freedom of speech, also explicitly prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion. we are NOT a christian nation, we are a nation of many, believers and non-believers, and a diverse spectrum in between.

i believe over the course of civilized man, religion on the whole has done more harm than good, but on a personal level, i'm sure it's helped it fair share. for fun, why don't you go here and take the abridged test. i was hoping for a score of 100%, but i missed one. :-(

it's good to have time to be back.

abstruse goose chases cars

i think this comic could be a fairly accurate representation of my love life, except that instead of chasing, i THINK about chasing. i only think because if i chased, i might run into situations like this and have an aneurysm.

in jordan

well, i've been in jordan for 4 days now. i decided to come to aqaba without doing much research, and that's my bad. it's good for divers, and i was contemplating getting certified, but that went away after i came to my senses. aqaba is pretty small, and i've walked most of it. i have booked a tour to go to wadi rum tomorrow afternoon. i'm taking a four hours 4WD tour, then they are dropping me off at a bedouin camp in the desert overnight. the next morning, i'm getting picked up again, and we are going directly to petra where i'll walk around solo seeing what i want to see and when i want to see it. when i've got my fill, the driver will bring me back to aqaba. i think this will be the longest i've been off-the-grid in a decade. no internet, no blogs, NO LAPTOP! i'm taking a phone, but only in case of emergency. what is wrong with me?! anyways, thursday will be a day of relaxing, repacking, and organizing everything to increase the chances of me making my tight connection in germany on my way to spain. there, i'll visit TheSwedishChefDave for a few days, then possibly on to barcelona over thanksgiving to see another buddy i worked with in italy, then ON IN to B-Town. i'll keep you updated.

new ZUMEL post

i'm currently writing up a post about the Delta Hash House Harriers Inaugural Black-n-Yellow Taxi Relay. it was a fabulous time, great stories, but trying to get it all down is tough, so much to remember that the race itself was making blurry. until then, there is a new post up at the ZUMEL.

ZUMEL returns

well, i've decided to try yet again to find the time to post more to ZUMEL. that being said, there's a new post http://zacanese.blogspot.com

R&R alpha - (day 14/15) - the end is nigh; ney... the end is here

it's october 14th... tomorrow, TheWayne and i would head our separate ways after an awesome time in germany and the czech republic. but it's not QUITE over yet. we woke up to try to hit "mike's bikes" for a bike tour of munich. it was rainy, and we were a bit late, so we missed the tour. as per usual, we walked a lot but my blisters were doing better now, or my brain had just rewired the "agonizing foot pain" nerves to go to my "let's just get drunk" drive. all was better. we walked to the english garden which is a very nice area of munich. relaxed, greenery, beer, food. speaking of beer, we stopped at the chinese tower in the garden for a sausage and some beer. my facebook profile picture was taken from said been near said tower in said garden (man, that pic is a year old? gotta find a new one i guess). after a nice buzz was packed one, we made out way back towards town. we walked around marienplatz center for a bit. TheWayne was looking for some soccer jersey of some sort. i walked around the store for a brief bit but soon got bored, so i went outside to one of the outdoor restaurants in marienplatz and ordered a beer and some potato salad. normally, i wouldn't remark about potato salad, but i do have to say, this was the best potato salad i'd ever had in my LIFE. fantastic! and brilliant me, i forget the name of the place, and i forget the name of the sports store TheWayne was looking in, but if i could find THAT sports store, i could find this restaurant. TheWayne finished his perusing, so we headed off to near nymphenberg. there is a cool lake we walked around for no apparent reason. there must've been a field trip or something as there were hundreds of french kids running around being all... french. a few beers more, then we made our way back to the hotel and cleaned up for dinner. we went out and ate at the hofbraü haus. it is a famous brewery in germany, and the restaurant was awesome! it was just like the hofbraü haus beer tent at oktoberfest but with more room to move. they even had the brass band playing on occasion! i had a great steak, my first white sausage... a generally awesome meal in a cool environment. TheWayne and i chatted up TheAnnabelle (or was it TheAnastasia)... i don't recall. she was our waitress and very friendly. we had a good time entertaining each other. after dinner, we walked around looking for a place to grab a few beers, but were very unlucky this day. we ended up grabbing a taxi home since (we thought) we'd wandered quite a ways. funnily enough, the taxi driver was spanish, and i was drunk enough to think i could remember enough to speak it. i think he was amused by my attempt... hey, at least he didn't drop us in the middle of nowhere. it ended up we were only maybe 6-7 blocks from where we lived, but i take no responsibility for this navigational error. it is widely known that i have no sense of direction.

we woke up the next day with a heavy heart. it had been a great 15 days and now it was back to real life. TheWayne was back to jersey and his IronMan training, i was back to cairo to close out the job there and move on to alexandria. we grabbed a quick breakfast, packed and hopped on the train to the airport. we partook in goodbye beers, then TheWayne bid me adieu with a tear in his eye. i, myself, had to turn away... and order another beer. looking back, i'm kicking myself for not going this year. if TheWayne is up for it (and anyone else), next year, i think we gotta go again. so there it is... R&R alpha, documented on the blogosphere, completed within 1 day of it's one year anniversary. talk about cutting it close. as a friend recently told me... "for god's sake, finish the blog... you have to let go of the past to allow new experiences into your life.", but one thing before i do that...

take a walk with me down memory lane (soft lawrence welk in the background, bubbles in the foreground, soft filter on the camera...)
TheWayne, throwin' one back

Mmmmm. half-meter sausage

Escalators are like moving chairs when you're drunk

TheTav and TheWayne still sleeping in Berlin

TheTav being a drunk, passed out punk... and TheWayne making sure there is photographic evidence of it!!!

TheWayne at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin

me and one of the lines denoting where the berlin wall used to run

TheTav, TheJen, and TheWayne

Da Boys!

Saw this while waiting to leave germany. REALLY?! "meat wagon" is " car rental" in german? AWESOME!

Havin'a good time at the Hippodrom!!!

Until next time...

more comics

matt's new beard

you gotta check out my buddy, matt's, blog. he decided to go on a spiritual trip via his beard. he's currently sporting "the recesssion". it's quite spectacular. awesome stuff. go goad him on, and tell him i sent ya. Matt's New Beard

R&R alpha - (day 10) - staying in manhattan

wow, it's been a long time, but i REALLY gotta try to get this done before the anniversary. for a recap, check out the previous posts (they were funny, it'll be worth it). the beginning, pfand, drucken, PROST!, fünf, checkpoint charlie, and yalla bina. there, now that you're all caught up, off we go again. keep in mind, all pix are clickable for more detail.


so, it's now 9-October, and we arrive in prague at the main train station around 8:30AM. TheWayne and i had tried to look up some hostels in berlin before we left but met with very little success. we disembarked the train, basically wandering for an exit when a middle-aged, slim lady came up to us handing us two business cards with her name (TheMila) and the name of the hostel she was representing, "manhattan" (on charvatova street, in the middle). she said it was very nearby, TheWayne and i exchanged glances of hesitant agreement, while i thought "hmmm, isn't this how that movie 'hostel' started... we're fucked!". TheMila told us is was very nearby, she gave us a brief overview of the city layout, where to go, etc. i assumed she was a retired hooker because, i mean, come on, prague has a decent redlight district, she was attractive for her age, and she knew hostels. before we knew it, we were being buzzed into "manhattan" and taken to the main office where we met TheMikhail. TheMila made some casual conversation with TheMikhail and left without asking for a tip. i was completely taken aback at this. nowhere in my 8 years of international traveling have i received a service without even a hint of lingering in expectation of a tip. she was cool. TheMikhail was a bit of a hippie with long graying hair and a black punk T-shirt that had "fuck" on it in some form. his english was good, we got a room for 3 days, but didn't have enough cash right off, so we gave a deposit and our passports telling him we'd be back with the cash later and made our way to the room. we were both pretty spent so we crashed for a few hours, then were up to steal some internet (that's a boy, TheWayne), hang some wet clothes, and find a laundromat.

we got our laundry done, got spiffy for the fine czech ladies, and went out for dinner. we found a place called TheTrilobite. we had a hot waitress named ThePetra, and there were lots of hot chicks there. i completely forget what the food was like, but i highly recommend it. we tried to get into a place called TheLucerne but all the tables were reserved despite there being MAYBE 10 people in the place! we wandered about because thatis what TheWayne is good at. we accidentally stumbled into the redlight district where guys are outside handing out cards to "their" club... "no committment, just take a look, best girls in town", etc. two guys were REALLY vying hard for us, one guy was trying to hand us a card, while another guy from across the street came up, all chummy, "don't mess with these two, i talked to them earlier, they're coming back to me" despite us never having been there. it was comical. we continued on until we found a bar called Rocky O'Reilly's. there we tied on drinkbag. 2x2 jameson's, stellas, patron tequilas, jägerbombs, and that's where i kept keeping track. i was on a mission. i also vaguely recall hot waitresses, irish girls, possibly on a hen-night, at the table next to us, and then we stumbled home around 1AM.

day 10... we got up around 10 and started out touring of the old town. my feet had blisters upon blisters from the dresden walk. TheWayne went out and found some sort of cream to try to help. i slathered, wrapped my foot with gauze, and prayed for the best. we grabbed lunch at Pivnice Beograd (pussy food? REALLY?!) and had beers. as is usual when i'm on vacation, i rarely have a plan besides taking in the local libations (i should co-host "3 sheets"). if TheWayne asked what we should do next, my ideas ranged from sitting down and having a Pivnice and think about it to sitting down and having Pilsner Urquell and think about it. from there we made our way to the national museum, but after seeing the price for entry, we decided that pictures from the outside were more than enough. the trains in prague are on the honor system as they were in germany. Our next stop was to be the Charles Bridge, so we hopped on the train at the museum and were immediately followed by a shady looking guy in a black jacket who asked to see our tickets. FUCK!!! we stepped off the train, TheWayne asked to see official ID, i tried the "i thought i gave you the tickets" routine, which failed miserably. After hearing about the fine of 700 Czech Crowns (~$40) EACH, TheWayne explained that we'd just go get a ticket now, but that was out of the question, we were nailed, so we forked over the money, and got a receipt which covered us to our next stop. TheWayne was fuming the whole time. i wasn't happy about shelling out the money, but we HAD been lucky up until that time. i was able to see the humor in the situation. the Charles Bridge is pretty cool, lots of caricaturists, painters, local-made crafts. there are some awesome sculptures on the bridge itself (some photos at the end). we made our way to the prague castle (again, more pictures at the end), despite it being a major uphill battle (for big ol' me and my broken feet), but we made it. the view from the castle was pretty impressive as well, looking down on all the red tile roofed houses and off into the misty (possibly smoggy) distance. after the castle, we stopped for a beer, and i decided to have a slivovice.

<ASIDE>the first time i ever had a shot of slivovice was at TheJRod'sWife's grandparents house. i believe it was easter, and i wasn't going home for the holiday, so she was kind enough to invite me to her family's house. her grandfather is a cool dude, really nice to this complete stranger, and funny. after dinner, he brought out some homemade slivovice. being the nice guy he was, he offered me some, though i hadn't noticed the family kind of gathering around. i took the shot and, GOOGLY MOOGLY, i thought i'd burned a hole in my esophagus. it was... an experience to say the least. everyone got a good laugh out of it... 'twas a good time.</ASIDE>

anyways, i figured i was in a country that served proper slivovice, so i'd try it, and again, i wasn't disappointed. TheWayne got a chuckle out of it as well since my face turned several difference shades of red. once my eyes straightened out, we agreed it was time to head back to the hostel to clean up for the evening.

i showered then TheWayne spent like 3 hours shaving his head. around midnight, he was cleaned and smoothed, and i was in agony, my foot was fucked, so i told him to go on without me. i crashed, he went out. i forget when he made it back, but he said it was lame (i know he meant because i wasn't there, hah). next time, you'll find me passed out on the bathroom floor... and, for once, it wasn't my fault!

cool cross embedded in the brick sidewalk at the national museum

TheWayne throwin' his game outside the municipal building

the (sadly) non-functioning astronomic clock in the "old town"

how i saw TheWayne throughout most of the trip.

a close-up of the hanging man sculpture from paragraph 2.

me trying to counteract TheWayne's hostility toward our train fines.

political pix

i went to one site that led me to another that led me to Tumble Dumble. from Tumble Dumble, i found the two following pictures that i thought were fantastic.

my two cents

i know very little about health care. i believe that i have a good health care plan through my company, but i've been lucky enough, that in my 8 years with them, i've never really had to use it. still, i can empathize with those who have absolutely no safety net, those who worry if they can afford to go to the emergency room. so, for my two cents... check out this video, and someone call the number at the end for me. long distance from egypt, just won't cut it.

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

BULLSEYE, muthfucka!

see more Funny Graphs

this graph say it all. granted, it's not scientific (it may be, but i'm not verifying the numbers), but from everything i HAVE heard it is relativistically right, that is, there are far more NORMAL flu deaths annually, than there have been SWINE flu deaths since it came out. get over it!

new post update

there's a new post up on at Past The Velvet Rope for any and all interested.

nomadic tendencies PSA of the year

Save the Boobs: Best PSA Ever - Watch more Funny Videos

roller-derby and graphs

i'm proud to say, i have a friend who is trying to roller-derby. how frickin' cool is that? i'm sure you ARE ALL visiting her original site, but now you should join me in following her progression from n00b to however-far-beyond-n00b she gets. check her new site out here. now, i GOTTA go visit her... like in real life. rock on!

AND completely unrelated... i like this graph.


see more Funny Graphs

new blog unofficial opening

with the graphical help of Chump, i've started a new blog to direct some of my ire toward. it is completely biased towards me. it's my club. people who piss me off (and there are a lot of them) don't get in, people who impress me are shown past the velvet rope. pretty simple.

i've been thinking on this blog for almost 3 years now, trying to find the perfect format. it isn't quite there yet. the original format probably would've gotten me detained in gitmo, but that's another story for another time. Chump and i are still working on layout and formatting, but i'll be trying to update it once a week, every friday or so (for the weekend of course).

go check it out, and let me know what you think. comments are always welcome. and come on back for the grand opening in a few weeks.

this week, who made it Past The Velvet Rope?

a roundabout story

here you find another "cowbirds in love" comic, though i don't find this one extremely funny. the reason i post it is the story that goes with it from the author. click on the picture to go to the page and read his story the frame.

when i read that story i had a bit of a flashback, and found i was laughing at myself. when TheMom had her first heart attack, us kids were kinda stuck fending for ourselves a bit. granted i was either a sophomore or junior in high school, there were some things we just didn't do... like grocery shopping. i can still picture it vividly, going to the kroger's with TheYoungerSister and TheGirlfriend(AtTheTime). we grabbed the buggy and split up going around the store getting what was on our little piece of the list. my job was to get lunchmeat for the house. i never paid attention to when TheMom bought lunchmeat, but i figured i was smart enough, i could figure it out. i took a number and waited in line, and soon it was my time to order. i told the lady i would like some bologna. she asked "which kind" to which i just pointed to one, and then "how much?"... **crickets** for some reason, i didn't think about how much, and i couldn't recall how much TheMom got at one time, so after a panicked few seconds, i said "5 pounds, please". the lady looked at my a bit strangely, and asked if i was sure. i told her "yes, it's for the week," and she went to it. i was kinda not really paying attention as she cut it, until TheGirlfriend(AtTheTime) rounded the corner, eyes wide, seeing the massive tower of bologna that the lady was stacking up on the counter. it was maybe 12" tall (though, if you can't tell, i wasn't the greatest at scale back then). TheGirlfriend(AtTheTime) ran down the aisle, chuckling the whole way trying to get the lady's attention to tell her that was enough meat. i may have imagined it, but i think TheGirlfriend(AtTheTime) and the lunchmeat lady's eyes met, and together they silently thought... "DUMB BOYS!"

meat is murder

i have a question to my vegetarian friends... and on that note, i have no vegetarian friends, so could you pass this link on to them so i could get their opinion. from this article it seems we may be only 10 years away from test-tube meat. that is meat that you would buy, cook and eat, that was grown in a laboratory rather than fed on a farm and slaughtered. this meat would be able to be adjusted to be healthier, have more of the good fats and less of the bad fats, and would decrease the need for grazing land and in the worst case, buildings cramped full of animals solely for business.

i saw this a report on this on CNNi before i saw the article. studies show that livestock produce nearly 18% of the greenhouse gases that might be affecting our climate. the entire fossil fuel industry (cars, power plants, etc) only produce 13%. that's right! cow farts are doing more damage to our environment than that gas-guzzling SUV you have. if we can culture healthier meat in the lab, we'd significantly reduce greenhouse emissions on a level not even fathomable by environmentalists trying to fight fossil fuel emissions.

so, the question is: vegetarians... would you begin eating meat? would you eat THIS meat? it's no longer "meat is murder"; it never had a face, as is the reasoning for some, AND it would be better for the environment to have people eat more lab-meat, thus making it more cost-effective. if not, what excuse would you have not to? dietitians typically don't say to completely remove red meat, but to limit it to like one serving a week, and as far as i know, there are no health risks associated with chicken at all (we're not talking salmonella here, though that would be significantly decreased since chicken factories that help spread that would be eliminated). would you eat lab-chicken? i'm just curious.

i would. i don't see a problem with it at all. healthier, better for the environment. seems to be pretty much a win-win as long as the cost isn't too much.

stirling (and the end of the scottish R&R)

for the sake of me getting this out of the way, and on to other posts, i'll give a cliff's notes version of the rest of my scotland trip accompanied by lots of pix (all clickable to embiggen). after all, pic = 1k words.

still in the edinburgh area: midway through the trip, we decided we were going to see rosslyn chapel (click for some pictures since i apparently didn't take any). i'd never heard of rosslyn, but soon found out it was featured in several scenes in 'the da vinci code', and i like puzzles. we hopped my first double-decker bus ever, and i ran like a fool up to the top to sit right up front, over the driver. along the way to rosslyn, i realized there was a small hatch on the dash in front of me where i could look down directly on to the driver. i thought it was an odd idea until i found, just above me, a mirror, so he can just look up and see if the top is empty. pretty cool. the gang had to keep me in line, though, because i was having too much fun looking down at the driver and not getting caught **TOURISTS!!!** rosslyn has some pretty cool stories, there are some interesting mathematical layouts involved in it, small discrepancies in patterned carvings on the ceilings, face of "green men" carved into the walls with no real explanation. at the front of the chapel, you find "the master's pillar" and "the apprentice's pillar". the story goes something like, the master went away telling the apprentice to practice, the apprentice felt he didn't need to practice anymore and made the apprentice's pillar, and when the master arrived back to see that the apprentice's pillar was better than his own pillar, he bludgeoned the apprentice with a hammer in a fit of rage. lovely story, eh? i KNOW i took some outside pictures of rosslyn, but can't seem to find them (now that i think about it, i think they were on an SC card that corrupted). eh, you'll have to make due with my vibrant descriptions and a rental of 'the da vinci code'.... wait... WOOHOOO!!! i found some, thank the aether some other people took pix.

soon after the rosslyn trip, TheJay and TheEJ had to make their respective ways home. i'm not exactly who left when, though, since it was a virtual whirlwind of people flying in, castles, pubs, quiz nights, more pubs, pizza, people flying out, etc. i was lucky enough to have TheJulie and TheBill invite me along on their trip to stirling to visit doune castle (setting for much of monty python and the holy grail), stirling castle, and the wallace monument (after ol' braveheart, himself).

so, TheBill, TheJulie, and i decided to make our trip. they'd already booked a bed & breakfast in stirling that i wasn't able to reserve ahead of time. i made it to the train station early to grab some brunch (good ol' burger king) and get the tix. i took a cab as i figured it would be easier, and i hate being late. if i do recall, TheBill and The Julie decided to take the adventurous route of taking the city buses, not knowing that the bus they needed drops them off further away from the station than they had expected. we missed the train we wanted to take, but they run fairly regularly, so we prepared to hop the next one. when we showed the tickets to the operator, he told us we paid too much, there was no first class or such-and-such on this and we could go to the counter to get some money back. we tried, and for some reason or another that i forget, we ended up not having time to get the refund there. so, we hopped the next train, saw some pretty countryside, and soon were in stirling. it wasn't a very far walk at all to their B&B from the station, and i'd noticed there was a pub just down the road a spell that was selling haggis lasagna (YEA!). TheJulie and TheBill spoke with the owner, got their room and luckily for me, she had another room that she wasn't sure if she could rent because they'd JUST finished painting the off-suite bathroom for it. she said it would be dry by the evening and let me take the room.

after dropping off our bags, we were off we to the bus station to doune castle. we took it the area of doune castle, and we found a tourist shop that sold information about monty python's part of the history of doune castle. when we arrived, some VERY nice cars were pulling into the grass and a bagpiper was playing away. apparently, we'd come as a wedding ceremony and reception was about to go off. we were directed around the wedding ceremony, checked out all the awesome halls, and TheBill and TheJulie were nice enough to catch me up on (and re-enact) scenes that were filmed where (as i've not seen the holy grail in some time). after touring the castle for a few hours, we made our way back to the B&B for a rest, then went out for dinner at the place i'd seen earlier. the haggis lasagna was lovely. TheJulie went back to the room to read and relax a bit. TheBill and i (bad influence that i am) went to the bar attached to the restaurant we ate at. we walked in and GOOD LORD it was loud! we ordered our drinks and tried to talk, but it was no use. the speakers kept playing the same loud song over and over again. that's when i realized... most of the people at the bar this night were deaf. they were signing away, while TheBill and i were the minority in that we couldn't communicate at all. we finished our beers and set out for somewhere else that might not cause permanent hearing damage. we found a decent bar called o'neill's where we grabbed a few drinks and talked about the trip so far and what still lay ahead. before it got too late, and i got TheBill in trouble, we went back to the B&B and laid our heads down for the night. (for more doune castle pix, go here).

we woke bright an early in the morning for breakfast. that's when i noticed some of the deaf people who were at the bar were staying at our B&B as well. we had our breakfast, paid the nice lady, and were on our way to wallace monument. we'd gotten there just as they were opening. there was supposed to be a shuttle to the top of the hill, but for some reason, that didn't work out. we saw a shuttle, and a man driving it, but not really shutting anyone. we hiked to the top of the hill, and i was again regretting ever having gotten fat. we eventually made it to the top of the hill on what turned out to be ANOTHER fantastically sunny day (most people would not mind this, but i went for rain and gloom... it's my thing). the air was a bit brisk but would warm up soon enough. we paid or way, left our bags at the front desk, and with that, made our way up the 246 stairs, through the several floors, and finally on to the roof. one of the first levels had a cool mannequin, of sorts, dressed as william wallace with a projector showing on his face (picture in the wallace monument link). since the room is kinda dark, with a bit of imagination, it looked like william wallace was actually telling the story of his life. there was a project screen next to him that showed skits fleshing out the story. we carried on to the other floors where we found some cool stained glass (one of my favorites is below), replicas of "the wallace sword" (though i think the hilt is believed to be the original), busts of the important people of the time, and more. the walk up got a bit tedious because it is a very tight spiral staircase, and you go around in circles several times between floors. a person could get vertigo. walking down was far easier, though you had to time it so as not to pass people on the stairs, but rather, at the gallery floors. on the roof, there's an amazing gothic peak like i've never seen before. we all took pix of each other and ourselves and the landscape. toward then end of our roof stay, we were startled when the speakers blared that there would be a presentation downstairs at 12:15 by "a man from william wallace's army". we made our way down and listened to the actor portraying the army character. he was quite good, giving small anecdotes in the first person and engaging the audience with his weapon and how to stories might related to the audience. at one point he was telling a story about how the future queen was killed before she could arrive in the country to rule "because women aren't fit for that sort of thing", and he called TheJulie out when she may have looked upset over that statement. it was funny. after his performance, we spoke with him for a bit but had to cut it short as we were on our way over to stirling castle. (for more wallace monument pics, go here).

coming up to stirling castle, you first notice an amazing open lawn, peppered with statues of famous kings and warriors as well as tourists and locals lounging in the uncommonly good weather. we'd arrived just as a tour was going out, so we joined in to get a little more history about the place than what we'd just get from reading the placards. i couldn't tell you what we learned now, but, back in the day, there were queens and kings and births, and there were buildings being built and parties being thrown. the art was pretty amazing. most of it was replicas, and they even had a professional weaver there recreating full size copies of some really awesome christian tapestries. you could see wallace monument from the castle. strangely enough, some of the garrison were pointed directly at it. i really liked the layout of stirling castle. there were long rustic walls built on the edge of the hill that you could walk clear to the edge, at one point, it looked like you'd walk right off the hill. the guard towers were actually quite tiny, and we had to duck to go in and out of them. i'm not exactly sure why i was so fascinated by this castle more than the others. maybe it was the weather, the green grass, the numerous walking paths among the immense guard walls, but i found it to be a really impressive sight. (for more stirling castle pix, go here).

after the castle, we made our way back to the train station where we went back to stirling proper. i got off at the haymarket station near my hotel, and TheBill and TheJulie went back to their place. we'd made plans to meet up for dinner later, so until then, i went the the haymarket, a bar across from my hotel, for a few cocktails. it was quiz night, the EASIEST quiz night i'd ever come across, but by the time it had started, i had to make my way back to the hotel for a quick shower and down to dinner. dinner was good, nothing really memorable. we parted ways, as i had to catch my flight in the morning.

it was good catching up with friends i haven't seen in a long time. sharing vacations rocks. if you haven't noticed, i'm NOT in spain as my R&R countdown says i should be right now. one of my buddies that i was supposed to meet is off working in malaysia for a bit, and i'm stuck with no one here to cover for me, so i'll take it at the end of the job. now need to find somewhere to meet someone. i've gotten an invite to japan, but i'm not sure if it's going to fit into my schedule. any other offers? more pix and movies below. now on to finishing the R&R before, the oktoberfest posts... i only have about a month to finish them before it's been a year. A YEAR ALREADY!!!

DOUNE CASTLE
TheJulie and TheBill "taunting" per the scene in monty python and the holy grail

roof of the main hall

TheBill and me standing guard per the scene in monty python and the holy grail

massive fireplace (one of many)

doune castle as we approached


TheJulie and TheBill doing the horse scene from monty python and the holy grail

also, here are links to the bagpiper playing outside the castle and playing in the wedding hall.

WALLACE MONUMENT
approaching wallace monument from way-the-hell-down at the bottom of the hill

the view from the top of wallace monument

what do you see in the bottom frame of this stained glass, keep in mind this is a religious piece? see something in the small pic? once you see it, click on it and zoom to enlarge. i hope you see it, because i REALLY thought that was cool.


STIRLING CASTLE
the aforementioned lawn leading up to stirling castle

stirling castle from the back being remodeled

the ceiling of the great after being remodeled, even using authentic wooden pegs instead of nails

TheBill pondering what i dubbed "the vertigo stairs"

the vertigo stairs... you fall over that right hand side, and it's a LOOOOOOOONG way down

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saving the best for last...

hey LADIES!!!! look what i can do!