Last English for Some Time

So this summer I'm at Middlebury doing the old Russian thing and I'm not allowed to speak English, so I'm gonna put down a few final thoughts.

First, Middlebury is beautiful. I never really considered it while doing the college search but it is in an absolutely pristine part of the country. We're surrounded by small, forested mountains, the campus is all white stone architecture, and the buildings are all very interesting.

Second, I have awesome roommates here. A quick note about the room. My room is a quad and is quite honestly way worse than any Carleton quad. The first thing that struck me about the room was the apparently useless wall that divides the entryway from the kitchen. This wall is not only useful in and of itself, but it also has a window in it. It doesn't have a common room to speak of, just the entryway, small kitchen, bathroom, 2 singles and a double. I'm living in the double with a guy who's studying Russian and IR at George Washington and is very social and outgoing. The two singles are occupied by older men. One is a foreign service officer being sent to Moscow (OMG) who just got married, he graduated from Bates and majored in Econ, I'd guess he's around 28. The other roommate may be the coolest person I've met at Middlebury so far. He's Ecuadorian, but was born in the US, and is around 40. He lived in Kansas for a time about a year and a half, but is currently in San Juan. He lived in Kazakhstan in 1990 studying Russian but his group was targeted by anti-American factions after the Gulf War broke out, so he's here fulfilling his goal of learning Russian. He worked for Microsoft on the XBox team. In short, I couldn't ask for a better set up.

There are several FBI guys learning Russian, us college students have been gossiping about them the whole time.

Third, we watched an excellent Russian film tonight called "White Sun of the Desert." It's an Eastern, or the Russian version of a Western. It's got great dialogue, it's funny, and although the action is fairly amateurish it is effective. The interesting thing about the film is that according to tradition, every cosmonaut has to watch the film before going into space. This applies to everyone who intends to go to space in a Russian vehicle. Therefore, every single astronaut for the next few years has to watch this film before going into space. It was also banned initially, but Brezhnev loved it and debanned it.

Fourth, so I took this stage combat class and our teacher filmed our final fight scene. BUT he hasn't e-mailed it to us yet, so as soon as I get it, it's going up on the blog.

So yeah, I'm surrounded by kids who basically want to do what I want to do, and it's awesome. I've been having nerdy conversations about Russian lit and history all day, and I couldn't be happier. Oh, I also live across the hall from a UPenn distance swimmer, so we're gonna go to the Natatorium and train this summer. So you better be ready for the alumni meet!

SPRING? SUMMER? GRADUATION!

So today marks the official end of the 2009-2010 academic year at Carleton. Lil Alfie graduates today. Wish I could be there, but I'm once again in the woods for the summer, delaying the end of childhood a little while longer. But, Congrats Alfreddy. Now get the hell off my campus.

This past year was wild. I looked back at the post that I wrote prior to the start of the year and I realized just how different it was than what I thought it was going to be.

First off it was the hardest year i've ever had academically. The history mini-comps DOES. NOT. MAKE. SENSE. We get 6 weeks to research and write an 30 page research paper. Next year for our 40 page comps, we get 20+ weeks. WTF?!?!?!!? It was hell and I was working on it literally until 5:01pm on the last day of finals. Whatever though, I'll never take a full course load again. I got 3 credits of comps in the fall and 9 in the winter.

Then there was Dow House. I hated living in Dow. I really liked my roommates, just not as roommates. It was a giant shitshow. It one point it was nicknamed Anarchy house, but then again it was also nicknamed Dog House, Motorcycle House, Poop House and Keg House (I'm sure the names allude to why). Food was never safe for anyone and respect was missing from the general atmosphere. Certain roommates did not clean their dishes for WEEKS. I felt like Nonberg at how angry I got at them, but it was out of hand. In the fall it led to fruitflies, in the spring it led to mold. I often did not use the kitchen after 5th week when it got crazy. It was an experience and a learning moment, and overall it wasn't that bad. But it taught me that the people you live with and the environment you live in is very important.

Other highlights/thoughts about junior year:

• Well there was my Birthday: Disaster
• I got to wine and dine with Former Prez Oden
• We kareoke-ed almost every thursday night of spring term
• I decided against the teacher licensure program at carleton
• There was all the swimming related events/issues/awesome times
• And shit... With the end of my junior year, its also the end of Sjoberg, Zutz, Sassy, ALAN, and everyone else... Damn.

It's crazy to think that the class of 09 only left one year ago. It seems like forever ago. The current freshman hear about how cool stadium was, so the idolization is still there. Mark = Nostalgic.

This post is starting to ramble. I'll move on from the past:

Right now I'm back at Camp. They keep promoting me. I'm the Teen Director/ Asst. Program Director. I'm quite excited. Did I ever tell you guys that the Executive Director of the camp shares a lot of the same qualities that Andy has?

I don't think I explained my living situation for next year yet. Well I'm living off-campus!
It's Louise, Pete, Heydinger, Brenner and I in a house at 519 College. Its a bit of a walk, but we got bikes and cars. It's two short blocks away from Econo and Northfield Liquor. It's a big house with a huge family room. I'll post pics in the fall. Brenner, Mering and some subletters are there over the summer though because they are working at Carleton. It'll be blast. I'm super pumped.

Ok. I thinks that's all I got in me now. I'm gonna do some paperwork because Staff Orientation starts tomorrow and I am helping train the noobs.

In conclusion:
-This year's two main kareoke songs were Your Love by the Outfield and Total Elipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler
-I love summer.
-Toto needs to talk about Scuba Girl and his trip to IRELAND!!!!
-Elliot: It was good to see you at Basils and that weekend!
-Alfredo: Write about your soulless job that you will do wonderfully.
-We made bowling club t-shits and they are awesome...
-I'd love to talk to you sometime over the summer and catch up. I have terrible reception but leave me a message and I'll call back when I go into town.
-AND... My boss heard about First Mate Charlie and when a bunch of us and her shared a beer on the last night before the summer season started, she said she was going to call me that when I got a little crazy.


MOLSON OUT.

Icing a Bro

Unoriginal content for sure, but we've been slacking on the blog, and frankly, I think the concept of "Icing" is hilarious.

The idea:

You can approach a bro and give them a Smirnoff Ice. When this is done, the bro must go down on one knee and chug, no questions asked. If an "Icing" is refused, the bro is excommunicated and shunned for life, never to Ice or Be Iced (or talked to) again.

A bro can shield against an Icing by producing their own Smirnoff Ice when an Ice attempt is made. This acts as an "Ice shield" and stops the Icing from occurring.

Icing may happen anywhere at any time. Icings can get creative, and that's where the beauty lies. The website further explains the creative potential. If Iced, one must abide and chug, else risk the consequences. Bros can chant "You got Iced" if an Icing occurs as the Iced one imbibes the Icy beverage.

Read up.

Best of the Net 2.0

IT'S BACK! YAY Stumble Upon and infinite procrastination fun.

Let's Jump Right In:

Scary Implications?
Remember the Times Square bomber? Check this out: Was the US military involved in a domestic law enforcement?

Why I Like Cities (cuz you don't see enough of this weird shit in towns like Northfield)
Artist/ Social Disruptor puts up these signs all around NYC

Can you imagine living during this time? Or in this place?
Camouflage tarps over towns/factories/ airports to prevent them from being bombed

Remember LOL Cats?
I didn't know these people made a whole network of sometimes hilarious, mostly low-culture waste of my time funny pages. But there are tons.

The next step towards Terminator?
First they are making their own discoveries, then their own judgments...

This lady is kidna weird...
It's a little fucked up story about a little chipmunk.

Follow the Money!
Interesting breakdown of corporations' political contributions by party.

I want to go to space...
Possibly the coolest space photo ever in my opinion. Imagine going that fast and riding a spaceship and seeing this.


Over and out.

Four things

Hi fellas. Four things.
1. Renaissance Mark Olson. This Saturday, I awoke to an email addressed to “Renaissance Mark Olson.” I assumed this was the Mark Olson we all know and love, and that he had undergone a transformation from the capricious and diabolical “Scourge of the Midwest” to a more understanding, balanced persona. Soon the haze of sleep cleared, however, and I realized this would be like the eagle deciding not to fly, the salmon deciding not to spawn, or the chupacabra deciding not to eat any more goats. (are there chupacabras on the Guzman ranch?) I took a closer look at the email, and it seems I’ve become a part of the budgetary discussions involving some group paying this guy for his “speaking services.” This is horrendously boring (and I probably should not post the actual email), but I learned two cool things: a PhD speaking about farming can command fees of $100/hour, and only ~10% of that needs to be actual speaking. Nifty. Said Mark, “could this be a look into the future?”

2. Space poop. If you’re like me, you’ve spent a lot of time doing two things: thinking about space and pooping. You’ve also probably wondered how astronauts poop. Wonder no more.

Two beautiful things about this video: The climax in the music when the toilet hole illuminates, and the way they talk about “positional alignment” and “docking.”

3. Blame it on the pop. I like this, and I imagine Senor Nonberg would as well. It’s a mashup of all of the 25 top pop songs (Billboard) from 2009.


4. Specter v Sestak tomorrow. Who should I vote for? The attack ads I’ve been seeing lately are impressive, to say the least.

5. Okay, five things actually. A few weeks ago they had a concert here on our version of the Bald Spot (Hub Lawn). It was free, and the bands were pretty good: Titus Andronicus (maybe you’ve heard “A More Perfect Union”?), State Radio, Fabolous, and, most importantly, Matt and Kim. I may be biased because my only association with their music is happy mornings in Stadium, but they were VERY fun to watch. They may not be the most musically talented performers in the world, but they more than make up for it with their enthusiasm (they’re just so damn happy), catchiness, and the enthusiasm of their (admittedly mostly hipster) fans. Said my coworker, “Watching Kim was… a religious experience.” My favorite part was when she would jump up on top of her drum kit and play the bass drum by stomping on it. If you ever get a chance to see them, you should do it.

Rotblatt 144

It was a blast.


They had fireworks right before giving out the shirts.

My friend Katie designed the shirts.

After a week of crappy rain and weather, it was 75 and sunny all day.

Didn't nap at all, but got quite sunburned.

There was george's vinyard pizza along with the usual bagels, burgers, chips, and dogs.

30 kegs of Northern Lager!

I drunk dialed a lot (some of you guys).

Took three breaks though away from the field. One for tavern breakfast, one for a friend's
radioshow, one for a dip (read: pool party) in cowling.

I stayed till the end.




...It was hands down the best Rotblatt I have been to...

How to get first at MIACs

We've been getting it all wrong. We need to get into liquid mountaineering. I haven't listened to this with audio yet, but it made me exclaim "JESUS!"


It's a miracle

The End of Stadium

Gentlemen,

Yesterday at work in the business office, a work order passed through my hands, traversed the mechanisms of the scanner, and went into history, largely unnoticed. This work order was a contract with a construction company. The duties prescribed per the contract:

To remove the countertops in Stadium 110, 201, 202, 203, and 204, to repaint the walls, and to remove the plumbing.

The end is nigh. After an estimated 40 hours of labor, the rooms we knew so well in Stadium will be no more.

everybody post dates!

that's the next step!

The Carleton and Andy new Regime

Just in case some loose eyes are watching I decided to hide the identities of certain people.

So in case you alumni haven't heard Ode ball got shut down by security last week. It didn't seem like a big deal especially since 2 of the kegs were pretty much tapped and the third was about 3/4 done, which Marco's housemate ended up saving in his fridge for like 2 days afterward. It was actually pretty hilarious because it was evident that security had taken the time to scout out the scene and plan out their raid as if they were a swat team. The security van came in through one side while two security guards on bikes sprinted in through the other side. It was probably the most priceless thing I've seen security do. They even held the kegs for us/confiscated them. They explained that they were only doing their jobs, which is true. Since the new head of Campus Activities started he has been strict about busting any unregistered party. We all figured we would just have to talk to the dean and we would get a slap on the wrist since they took my name and Maco's name down. However typical Ode freshmen girl got way to trashed and ended up going to the hospital at 7:00pm. We were a bit worried for the girl, but figured everything would end up okay. So me and Marco proceeded to continue drinking and destroyed parts of Fieldnorth as the night progressed.

Well it turns out that girl had to talk to the Odaf dean since she went to the hospital. She apparently spilled her guts out and explained the entire operation. The Odaf dean called the Barleton dean who eventually called Da Clarkster (Oh Shit!). Mark eventually received an e-mail from our dean to come in and talk about the situation. After speaking with her Marco decided to contact Da Clarkster and talk to him about the incident. Before this conference happened the new and old captains decided to have our own little summit so that everyone got briefed on what the dean said and to get Marco ready for Da Clarkster. We agreed that the whole incident was just an unfortunate event, and we were all sorry that this was reflected on the swim team name. Marco came back from the meeting however explaining how Da Clarkster seemed like he wanted to make some very drastic changes. According to Marco, Da Clarkster was thinking of prohibiting alcohol use at any of the swim team functions. Marco stood his ground and explained many of the disadvantages to this new policy. This might have made Da Clarkster think but he did make it clear though that if some people were not willing to follow whatever policy he implements then there is no room on the team for that person. Several of us have mentioned how this is going to effect the team if he does not allow us to drink. I think the new captains would like to compromise some but not to much. After all Da Clarkster is the only coach on this campus who is making such a big deal about this issue. According to Marco even the dean said we can have parties but to just register them. What do you guys think should be said to Da Clarkster to try and save many of the traditions that have made every year so special, because many of them are in danger.

I just received an e-mail by the dean here at Barleton a few hours ago to come in and meet with her about the issue. I'm not exactly sure what she is going to ask me but it will be interesting to see how the next few weeks unfold especially with some of the events that are planned for the rest of the term.