Shqipo's Virtual Mumblings: December 2005

Berries covered in snow

Friday, December 30, 2005

Berries covered in snow
Originally uploaded by Ledio.

A couple of weeks ago, we had our first "regular" snow (about 6 inches). So I went out and took a few photos. This one made an impression on me, I don't even know what these berries are called.

I thought they were interesting, like a bright sign of life, trying to challenge the cold, harsh, snowy winter.

Best pizza?!

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Yesterday we went with friends out to lunch. They had read about this place called Green Lantern Lounge which, supposedly, had the best pizza in Detroit area, according to the Detroit Free Press and local Channel 4.

When we got there, I wasn't expecting a fancy place; from my experience, it's the small, hidden places that normally have the best food (or pizza). But when we entered I was a bit surprised to find out that this was actually a bar, not a restaurant, with TVs hanging on each corner, set on ESPN. It was a bar with a few booths and tables crammed next to each other with no place to move. We asked to be seated in a non-smoking place, but a waitress just said "sit anywhere you like" - and she was right, cause there was no non-smoking place! This place was just a local bar, where regulars were factory-type guys stuffing themselves with pizza and beers (even shots!) at 1 PM! I wonder where they worked... .

Service was horrible! Our "mid-lifed" waitress seemed in a major hurry, although they were not that busy. She wouldn't even wait to listen to our full order but was always interrupting us as we're giving the order and walking away! And it wasn't even a big order: a Greek salad and 2 pizzas. When we asked for more water a bit later, she just dropped a pitcher of water on our table. I guess it's self-service. When she was taking away our plates, again in a major hurry, she dropped a knife with pizza sauce on my sweater and didn't even notice it but walked away. Now I'm so pissed we left her $5 as a tip! She didn't deserve any!

Now is the best part: food quality. The so-called Greek salad was mediocre at best: lots of feta cheese, cheap iceberg lettuce, a few beets, olives and pepperoncini - no tomatoes and/or cucumbers. She brought some so-called garlic bread with it, which was nothing but a toasted, buttered hotdog bun! But it's OK, we were there for the pizza, not salads. So the pizza came. We ordered a regular and a deep dish one. The deep dish one was an OK thickness, nothing major (it's funny how a reviewer online called it Deeeep). So we tasted this famous pizza. Frankly, I don't know what kind of hallucinating mushrooms those who gave the awards had on their pizza when they did the review. I don't pretend to be a "pizza connoisseur" but this was just an average pizza! There was absolutely nothing special about it! Heck, the ready-to-cook Freschetta that we buy at the store is even better than that!

To make a long story short, Green Lantern Lounge gets not one, but two thumbs down.

Group sex!

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Yes! Now I feel much better and I'm moving to Canada! A judge in Montreal (ah, the French...) just considered group sex as non-harming and legal (when behind closed doors). Groovy baby - as a famous movie character would say.

What I don't understand is why is group sex considered illegal in the first place? Granted, I've never participated in such activities, but limiting harmless things just wakes up the libertarian in me. I may be wrong, but I am under the impression that consensual sex (not rape) hasn't really hurt anyone (yes, even those who are into painful, uhm, "methods" aren't hurt because, I guess, that's how they like it).

So, while it's perfectly legal to wage wars and have thousands of people killed, gather in so-called churches and scream in ecstasy, and so many other things I can't remember right now - it's illegal to have group sex because it's harmful! Is it just me or this just doesn't seem right?

Here's the article.

English only

Monday, December 19, 2005

I read in the news a few days ago about this public high school principal in Kansas C

ity, Kansas who decided to dismiss a student simply because he spoke in Spanish to another kid in the hallway.

Now, I am not a supporter of a bi-lingual country, simply because immigrants from different countries come here. This country is full of immigrants from just about every country in the world; making all those languages "official" would be ridiculous! Here's a good example: there are 18 recognized languages in India. Can you imagine having to learn 18 languages in order to get something done? That's why they have Hindi (and English) as the common language which everyone uses to communicate.

However, dismissing some kid because he spoke in Spanish to another kid is plain stupid and, why not, discriminative. I keep hearing how people are so against the use of Spanish in products, public places, etc. Look how ridiculous they look with their home-made signs!

And I don't blame coompanies for printing their labels in English and Spanish. Business don't exist to make things right politically, they exist to make money. If they ignore the growing Spanish-speaking population, then they're not smart at all.

As I mentioned above, I'm not for any other languages but English to be the official language. Those who come into this country (like myself), although we/they should preserve our native language and culture, we have no right to request that this country should change their way of doing things (let alone their language!) simply because we decided to come here. Noone forced us to come here but a better life, so, if we want to take advantage of the opportunities offered here, the least we could do is try to integrate and learn the language.

But don't discriminate me because I am able to talk on another language to somebody! Heck, knowing another language is actually considered admired in most countries. If you're involved in the conversation and we left you out by talking in a foreign lankiness, then it's our fault - but not in this case. Haven't you understood that this country, ever since native Indians were wiped out, is a mixture of many different cultures? It was like that 100 years ago when your parents immigrated here - why should it change now? I wonder if someone dismissed this principal's parents because they were talking in Swedish or whatever to one another when they moved here! Stop this KKK shit! It's the 21st century, in case you missed it!

Here's the article

Politicians are funny - 2

Thursday, December 15, 2005

I guess today's the day for politics. The main news story seems to be that Prez accepted Sen. McCain's ban on torture. I say: "It's about #$%^& time!" How do we exactly promote democracy, and even worse, go to "establish" (by force, of course) democracy in other oil-rich countries when we support torture (by threatening for several months to veto this ban - read the article)?

Here's the funny part: "Bush said the ban and accompanying interrogation standards will "make it clear to the world that this government does not torture and that we adhere to the international convention of torture, whether it be here at home or abroad." Wait a sec, I thought a ban is for whatever happens from now on into the future, not for what has happened so far...

Politicians are funny

It's no news about Tom DeLay's corruption scandal. It's no news either that, in one way or another, politicians are corrupted. By now, it shouldn't be news that I'm attracted to politics - but not because it's a venue for profits.

I just ran into these quotes from Mr. Ethics himelsef and I found them hilarious! Seriously, it blows my mind how do people vote for these morons? I just can't comprehend how a former bug exterminator can become the de facto US Congress speaker! Is this a great country or what?

The craziest thing is how these assholes who preach morals and ethics more than anyone else, are the ones who do the most unethical things!