my rear is chapped.

it's winter in this god-forsaken country. already. it's AUGUST and i'm wearing my winter coat.

someone needs to be shot, specifically everyone in hungary. this place should just be turned into austria's parking lot.

i bury people.

yesterday was interesting to say the least. it's always noteworthy when you can experience something you've never done before nor thought you ever would do. in my case yesterday, this meant burying the dead.

so, a friend of mine's mother died. saturday i went by his house to console him/drink beer. it was during this time that i was invited to be one of the paulbearers for the urn. wasn't expecting that, but it was an honor nonetheless to be asked, especially since i'm not family.

yesterday comes, we head out to the cemetary. the cemetary is in a quaint little serbian village outside of town. cobblestone streets, tiny roads, the works. really gorgeous, romantic little place - probably my favorite village in hungary. we get to the cemetary which is very secret garden-ish; bushes totally overgrown, small, dirt footpaths throughout the place. a fixer-upper if you will.

i arrive early with the son of the deceased to make sure all is going according to plan. upon arriving to the gravesite i receive a lesson in hungarian culture. hungarians bury themselves in mass. since land is both limited and expensive, families purchase a plot for burial and put the whole family in that plot after they kick the bucket. so imagine my surprise upon arrive the cemetary to find out that before i'd be lowering anyone INTO the ground, i had to take 3 folk out of the ground. then a new, permanent sarcophagus was placed into the ground and we had to figure out the logistics of putting all the urns in the box in an ordrely fashion (like a puzzle, only with dead people).

dead folks finally got arranged, put in the ground, and living folks turned up to pay their respects. the service was enjoyable. at the end of the service, i was asked to help seal the box with the now completed set of ashen cadavers. the top was lowered, the box sealed. now, the final part - me filling the hole back up. apparently in hungary you don't wait to folks to leave - filing in the hole is part of the ceremony. so, i filled the hole, everyone put flowers on the grave, and we went for dinner.

dinner was nice, i was able to take a box home to enjoy today. i open it up, hoping to find some lovely grilled meats in there, when i find that the box i've selected is nothing but potatos. damn.
what am i, irish?

el competition ya'll.

so staincastle has a nifty picture of himself.
i've been shopping around for a decent one to represent all the glory that is me - but i don't think i could find one as scathingly awful as you guys. hence a competition to find the best picture that represents GNIF.

kisses to the winner. french kisses to the runner up.

EDIT: goatse related submissions NOT accepted. y'bastard.

folks be dying.

crazyiness in budapest. 5 people died in the independence day celebrations. as of 3:45 today i've already seen two dead bodies, both in metro stations.
something really odd is going on.

ironically divine.

so sunday night was a big deal in hungary. august 20th marks the founding of the hungarian state some 8600 years ago or something. the government always marks the occasion with a big to-do of things; red bull planes fly around all crazy-like, under bridges and whatnot. the evening is marked by the setting off of a lot of fireworks.

this year the festivities didn't exactly go to plan. the day was beautiful - bright, sunny, perfect temperture. as 9:00 drew near the sky started flashing in ways that makes you think "someone's bout to get electrocuted." the fireworks were shot off from one of the bridges crossing the danube, but as soon as the display began the wind started to pick up. after three minutes or so the wind was really ripping, according to a news report at gusts of around 90mph. people, well, freaked. rain was coming down in katrina-escque portions which sent the 1.5 million views running for cover. trees started falling, people were diving for cover, screaming at the top of their lungs out of both fear and the immense pain caused by the rain hitting your face at close to 100mph. i stood in the midst of the ruckus, soaked to the underwear, and had to laugh.

it seemed hysterical to me that the indepence day festivities of hungary were marred by a horrible storm that killed at least 5 people, and has injured who knows how many more.

we shoot folk.

i finally post again. i'd almost forgotten i'd made this site. i might as well try to keep it up a little.
stereotypes are usually in place for a good enough reason. this headline from the local newspaper hits pretty much every mississippi stereotype right on the head.

At about 11 p.m. Tuesday, Jones County Sheriff's deputies and investigators apprehended Donnie Ray Tucker at a gas station in Laurel. Donnie Ray Tucker was being sought for allegedly shooting and killing his brother, Jimmy Henry Tucker, after the two men got into an argument Tuesday afternoon.

Mississipians, it would seem, shoot their own blood in fits of rage and then hang out at gas stations.