Stern gits r dun

although the above outburst could have been directed at me, or more better yet, fat leo, it was not. just a line i heard belted out several times during the Chelsea match we attended on sunday. soccer, i will not call it football just because i inhabit this frozen rock (side note - the pirated signal is back up so i can post, yes, and i'm keeping warm by surrounding myself with two oscilating space heaters and the dell d600 laptop resting on my legs because the heat is out in casa de stern...washing machine works now though...one up, one down - jihad) - so back to the game. there is no recorded music, no sound effects, no don't you wish your girl friend was hot like me annihilating the testerone pumping through the stadium. soccer games are friggen fun here. they sing, chant, yell and talk a truckload of smack. you know you're on your way to a fun event when you get off the tube and some dude who's obviously trashed looks at you and asks "do you have the time mate?" and you say "3:30" and he replies "good, time for 2 more pints before kickoff." i saw it and it's great. chelsea was playing colchester and won 3-1 in front of a soldout crowd that sat through the pouring rain not giving a F.

as a result of enjoying this experience so much i now hate the nba.

heavyweight champion of the chipotle classic and my good friend fat leo was kind enough to swing by london for his president's day weekend and my use 2 of my 30 days of vacation weekend. thursday upon arrival we began what would be the start of 4 10,000 calorie days in a row. 4 eggs, sausage, bacon, toast and coffee at 11 am got things moving right on pace. you may think that won't cut it. try staying up to 4 am everyday eating your way through westminster, it's easy.

an evening at the tiroler hut thursday - beer steins and lederhosen baby

Me, Ari and Bryony















Leo and Stern















of all the great conversation and fun that was had, one concern was the main topic of conversation. there is no where to get quality mexican food in london. now the uk lacks many of the basic qualities of american life, like heat on this fine evening, but it dawned on both of us how much mexican we eat. today over lunch i did a little research and discovered there is actually some one else's blog thread out there where this very critical topic was covered. i took the liberty of posting the following to it:

http://www.gyford.com/phil/writing/2003/01/14/londons_lack_of.php

"Hello - recently moved to London and just had my first fat friend visit me from the States. This weekend it dawned on us that the Mex scene is poor to horrible and worse, I miss it like michael bolton misses hair. All we could talk about was opening up a simple burrito joint, offerring burritos, quesadillas and tacos. Coke and beer would also be served. Simple and good and clearly, not found in London. No tapas, no big prices and nothing complicated would be offered. I am game to open one. I work in commercial real estate, could secure a location and will be availble to secure initial financing. If you’re in, let me know. email wwstern@hotmail.com Also, my girl friend is Mexican which transitively makes me authentic. "

naturally this post was plagued with false pretense and even copied lines. thanks for the bolton lne k-sac. you're the venus flytrap to my daisy.

quote of the weekend: Are you going to drink that milkshake or not?
doesn't get any fatter than that.

learned a few things about the guy who came to dc from london from one his buddies:
1) he is the only guy in the office not wearing an undershirt
2) he's gotten no play thus far
3) he'll be liscensed before others who should be

I'm really not a superstitious person. However I have now lived in the UK twice in my life and twice I am witnessing an animal disease epidemic. In 2001, I came and was greeted by the smell of decomposing bovine carcasses as england was trying rid itself of mad cow.



and now bird flu is creeping up on me because germany can't tighten up the problem fast enough.















don't forget, the whale died too.



and finally, something for the hunnies...

















Fossil, right click to download, use the "save picture as" feature. you're welcome.

Stern