Conversations overheard by a British immigrant.

I was talking to a third grader about history.
He is a recent immigrant from India and he had a limited knowledge of American history.
I asked him if he knew anything about Indian history.
He responded that he had visited Gandhi's home when he lived in India.
An American kid next to him asked who this Gandhi guy was.
Another kid (also of Indian descent) joined in the conversation, "Gandhi got rid of the British, he did it without guns or an army".
1st Indian kid " Yeah, he just got everyone to ignore the British".
Both Indian kids " Yeah, they just ignored them".
At which point I was duly and very deliberately ignored.

Every pissing rainstorm in the Bronx has a silver lining, kind of.

I do believe in beauty. I do wake up and feel exhilirated by the new dawn. I am an eternal optimist.
But there are some things that really piss me off. Let me list the ways.
Going to Yankee Stadium annoys me, it just does. ($18)
Spending over an hour on the 4 train to get there when it should only take about 45 minutes.($2)
Pissing, miserable, soaking, demoralising rain.(free, it's rain you know)
Obnoxious Yankee fans on aforementioned 4 train.(also free yet still annoying)
Waiting for half an hour to get into the Death star in a crowd of annoying Yankee fans in the rain. (a combination of all of the above except the bit about the 4 train).
Seeing six Yankee fans turned away from the gate because they had arrived on Friday night with tickets for Sunday's game. (F*CKING PRICELESS!!!!).

This TV show makes me happy.

I was nicely adrift in a world loosed from reality then someone pinched my laptop. I've no desire to make laptop theft a repetative motif within my blogworld but it just feels like 'reality' (never a concept I was at home with) has knocked on my door.
BUT, there is hope. The British sitcom 'spaced'.
I've just watched this (two seasons, 14 episodes, some 7 hours of TV, love/joy/laughter/happiness/nostalgia/quality/humour and the rest) all the way through one of the most deliciously sun drenched, late summer breezed, idyllic september afternoons.
And do you know what? It felt great!
I promise the next time I write I will a) not mention crime and b) place a link to the spaced website.

Movie moments.

I have been carrying a torch for this man for years.
Please go and see 'Shaun of the dead'. It's got Simon Pegg in it. He was in the best TV show ever. 'Spaced'. You must see this movie.

Crime and punishment.

It's been a strange few days here at Bowles towers.
Firstly there was an outrageous breach of security which involved the theft of two laptops.
The culprits are being pursued.
They will be crushed.
The most depressing aspect is the ammount of writing that was lost, we have now learned the importance of backing up all our work but it's a bit too late.
So, in a vain attempt to recapture what was lost i'll give you a brief synopsis of the contents of my laptop.
' Parallel Universe'. This was a work in progress (hey, they were all WIP). A pseudo-Seinfeldian drift through the early morning adventures of a Brooklyn schoolteacher and his journey to work.
Also starring Dave the art teacher.
'Tom'. An affectionate portrait of my old university chum, Tom Lynn. I was enjoying this so much that I'm planning on re writing it and continuing the process with other friends.
An untitled account of my grandfather's pre war athletics career.
'Butterfly brooch'. A sure fire money spinner. This was the wife and I hoping to cull middle America with the schmaltzy tale of how we met and the ensuing romance. We are willing to cash in our happiness for the downpayment for a house.
There were other things but the four mentioned above were the ones that I'm determined to try and recreate.
As it happens we got off pretty lightly. Two laptops, that's it.