Conor Meagher Fan Club

I made a new friend this morning during my normal routine at the library today. He’s 5 inches tall, weights 5 ounces, and eats 1/3 of his body weight in insects a day. For those of you who failed biology, it’s a bat. “That’s Crazy! I’m Brian Fellow!”

Tomorrow is my last day.

So it’s Friday night and I’m giggling like a little school girl. Not because the weekend is here, but because HOCKEY IS BACK! Ok, maybe I’ll be the only one in Asia following the NHL, but I don’t care. The last game played was in June of 2004 and I haven’t been the same since. My Canadian vocab is lacking, I’ve watched too much NBA basketball, and I haven’t drank a Labatt Blue in a looooong time. Maybe the NHLPA got screwed on the CBA agreement, but I don’t care. The difference between $1,000,000 and $770,000 is nothing to whine about when your a professional athlete.

Also the game installed some radical rule changes that will be a huge advantage for the goal scorers. If you like goals then I’d highly suggest you check it out.

Just got back in from my Road Trip. If I see another Pro-Life billboard I think I’m going to scream. Other then that everything was great. Des Moines only had one cool person who happened to my good friend, Chicago has a lot busy people (aka Marena), St. Louis is good for one night but that’s it, and Joe & Nguyen have a phat pad with a lot of new shinny things. I wish they would adopt me.

I’ve yet to look at the random pictures I took on the road hoping I could get at least 10 good ones out of maybe a 100. But since I’ve been driving for 7 hours straight, I think I’ll say hello to Mr. Waterbed first.

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If anybody is interested in taking a 5 day tour of the Midwest, beginning this Friday to next Wednesday, let me know. The exciting adventure kicks off with a Friday night in Des Moines, then two days in Chicago, followed by a night in St. Louis, with a day/night in Memphis, then another night in St. Louis, and back home to good ole KC. The vacation will include special appearances by Marena “Where’s My Visor” Smitobol & Joe “Master Chef” Tran.

I’d be lying if I said I was going for the scenary, so “Yes” I do have friends at each of these locations to spend time with. It’s my last hurrah before going to Korea and never driving again.

By now you probably have seen the Live 8 Concert on VH1 and ABC asking for no money, but your voice. It is commendable that the networks are giving it some exposure instead of another episode of Behind the Music: Backstreet Boys or Dancing with the Stars. But I think what’s lacking is the overall all message. The main purpose for this concert is to put pressure on the countries attending the G-8 Summit in Edinburgh, Scotland today. The billion dollars debt relief and materials for fighting disease especially HIV/AIDS is important, but there are far more the G-8 members could do that would make a healthier Africa. Trade (which is grossly unfair), Substitutes, Civil War, and Human Rights just to name a few. A good book that goes in to detail about these things is Globalization and Its Discontents by Joseph E. Stiglitz. Also when the summit is finally over and a deal is made, I would read the details and situplations that are assoicated with the aid. It’s not like they just send a big wad of cash to Africa and say “Here, pay us back whenever you want.” Ties to oil revenues and other self interest issues are planned to be added. Read the article by the BBC on the protests and what is really needed.

It’s ironic that the United States has spent an upwards of $150 billion dollars on a war that demolished a country with free healthcare, free education, and 100,000 more innocent cilivians while multipule countries in Africa, who are the poorest in all of the world, plan to get only 8.8 million from the US.

Makes you go hmmm…