Two posts in one day?

It's like Christmas except instead of celebrating the birth of our Lord you read the stuff that comes into my head. So it's kinda the same. I guess. Anywho....

Top 10 Albums of 2006

10. "The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me," by, Brand New

• Best Song: "Degausser"

9. "Guglag Orkestar," by, Beirut

• Best Song: "Prenzlauerberg"

8. "The Avalanche," by, Sufjan Stevens

• Best Song: "The Henney Buggy Band"

7. "The Body, The Blood, The Machine," by, The Thermals

• Best Song: "Here's Your Future"

6. "Happy Hollow," by, Cursive

• Best Song: "Rise Up! Rise Up!"

5. "Let Me Introduce My Friends," by, I'm From Barcelona

• Best Song: "The Painter"
  

4. "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not," by, The Arctic Monkey

• Best Song: "Red Light Indicates Doors are Secure"

3. "Return to Cookie Mountain," by, TV on the Radio

• Best Song: "Wolf Like Me"

2. "The Crane Wife," by, The Decemberists

• Best Song: "Oh! Valencia!"

1. "Boys and Girls in America," by, The Hold Steady

• Best Song: "Chips Ahoy!"
• Runner-up: "Party Pit"
  

Well, there you go. After listening to somewhere well over 100 albums this year, that is what I got for ya. Hope you find something on it to your liking.

And we're back...

You guessed it, time for more EURO Awards!

Thing Most Missed from America (other than family/friends):
Winner: American TV
Runner-up: Ice in drinks/Free refills

Thing Least Missed from America:
Winner: 21 year old drinking age
Runner-up: American Music Radio

Best Bar:
Winner: Merry Monk (Vienna, Austria)
Runner-up: Augustiner Brauhaus (Salzburg, Austria)

Best Part About Being Here:
Winner: Rachel
Runner-up: Future stories

The Big One; Best Trip:
Winner: London, England
Runner-up: Vienna, Austria


And that concludes the first and probably only EURO Awards. Tip your waittresses, put down that third liter of Stiegl (I'm looking your way, Mr. Daltoso) and have one hell of a new year!

EURO AWARDS!!! (Part 1)

Bust out the black tie folks, because I'm handing out the first annual EURO awards, with categories and winners selected by yours truly. All winners will recieve the following trophy:

(If you imagine William Shatner hosting these award they become 3.5 times funnier)

Most Annoying People:
Winners: The French
Runners-Up: French Belgians

Nicest People:
Winners: The Dutch
Runners-up: Bavarians/Austrians (tie)

Best Cathedral:
Winner: Chartes Cathedral (Chartes, France)
Runner-Up: Stephansdom (Vienna, Austria)

Best Museum:
Winner: The British Museum (London, England)
Runner-up: Comic Strip Museum (Brussels, Belgium)

Best Castle:
Winner: Neuschwanstein (Bavaria, Germany)
Runner-up: Schonnbrunn (Vienna, Austria)

Best Sculpture:
Winner: Man Crushing Other Man With Club http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/4421/160164605808071/320/vienna%20club%20guy.jpg (Vienna, Austria)
Runner-Up: Golden Horse and Rider (Paris, France)

Best Painting:
Winner: David with Head of Goliath by, Caravaggio (Vienna, Austria)
Runner-Up: The Kiss by, Gustav Klimt (Vienna, Austria)

Best Beer:
Winner: Edelweiss Dunkel (Linz, Austria)
Runner-Up: Stiegl Bockbier (Salzburg, Austria)

Best Restaurant:
Winner: Freed's Kebab (Salzburg, Austria)
Runner-Up: Sparky's American Restaurant (Vienna, Austria)

Best Class:
Winner: Art History (Dr. Loos)
Runner-Up: Music (Gundi)

Most Inexplicable Fashion:
Winner: Male Capri Pants
Runner-Up: Mullethawk

Most Terrifying Stairs:
Winner: Anywhere in Amsterdam
Runner-Up: Augustiner steps after a liter or two.

Intermission Time! We'll be back after these messages...

Messed around with my blog a little

If it annoys anybody I'll go ahead and change it back. Or if the colors make it impossible for someone (I'm looking your way, Dad) to read.

I'm bored, so you'll probably be getting a lot of me this week. Woohoo!

Pics from Brussels and Bruges!

As always, forgive the order. On to the pics!

This is an old Medieval fortress from Bruges. It was incredibly cold and foggy there but we still had a great time. Bruges is the capital of Flanders, and as such the people there were not French, which I have come to find out is usually a plus.

Another shot of Bruges medieval square. I think this building was the post office. Really.

Most delicious currency ever, though it does make me wonder how much a rabbit goes for these days.

One of the two men in this picture is made of wax. But which one!?

This bathroom is only for women. And Jedi. Women Jedi, really.

Brussels is the comic book capital of the world (and beer and chocolate and french fry capital of the world. And capital of Belgium and Europe. And NATO. On second thought maybe they should just make it capital of the world. Or King. King of the World.

Comic book character at the comic museum in Brussels.

Rachel with Tintin, the most beloved children's book character in Europe, and probably the world.

Another one with Rachel as Tintin.

I honestly never knew the Smurfs were Belgian. But they totally are.

The Mannekin Pis is a famous statue of a boy peeing, and then people dress it up. Sound strange? Well, it is.

Me with the Mannekin Pis.

Brussels City Hall, a beautiful medieval building.

Cannibal station! Cannibal station! People who get this joke: Mom and Dad. People who are very confused: everyone else.

St. Michel, another gorgeous cathedral.

European Unity angers me so much I had to put a fist through this glass wall.

I couldn't think of any witty captions for this. Sorry.

Which way is Europe? Oh yeah!

That is a lot of languages.

I guess when it comes down to it, I can describe my Brussels trip in one word:

MEGAFUN!

Love everybody,
A.Diddy

Year end lists!

Pictures from Brussels/Bruges are forthcoming, but I decided that over the next week I'll be compiling a list of my favorite things from 2006. Feel free to comment!

10 Best Songs of 2006

10. "Playhouses" by, TV on the Radio
9. "SexyBack" by, Justin Timberlake
8. "I Saw It On Your Keyboard" by, hellogoodbye
7. "It's Not Love" by, The Pipettes
6. "Knock 'em Out" by, Lily Allen
5. "Prenzlauerberg" by, Beirut
4. "Oh! Valenica" by, The Decemberists
3. "The Henney Buggy Band" by, Sufjan Stevens
2. "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" by, Scissor Sisters
1. "Chips Ahoy!" by, The Hold Steady

Grades!

Fine Arts = A-
German = B-
Music = A
Philosophy = A-
Poli-Sci = B+
Theology = A

All in all, a 3.5 GPA. Could've been better, could've been worse (probably much worse) but I will take it. I head back to Salzburg tomorrow morning, you guys know how to reach me.

Love,
A.Diddy

Bonjour from Brusells!

Finals are finally over (I realize that was WAY too easy) and we flew into Brusells last night. The hostel was closed by the time we got there, but they luckily let us check in over an hour late. Phew. Anyways, we've just been walking around the city today. We'll do some more sightseeing tomorrow, then we are going to take a day trip to Bruge Monday.

Brussels is a great city but the weather is awful, ugh.

Amsterdam update and pics

Amsterdam was a lot of fun, save the horrific loss of my iPod. I hope whoever stole it loves it as much as I did... Anyways, here's some pics:

Museum of Torture was really cool. You know it's bad when this seems like a pretty nice way to go.

On the train from Frankfurt to Amsterdam.

The world's most public public toilet.

Heineken is the national beer of Holland. This was not a brewery, it was actually an interactive museum. A lot of fun.

How beer is made.

I do like to think of myself as the Beer King.

"Coffeeshop" in the background. Odds that it actually sells coffee: about 50%.

Another Museum of Torture shot. If you can see in the background there is a painting of a man being sawed (sawn? sewn?) in half.

The Netherlands have the world's steepest stairs. It's a little scary actually.

I amsterdam...

Central Amsterdam is built under sea level, and they use a series of canals to keep the city from going under. I don't think they have hurricanes in Norhern Europe though...

More canal stuff.

Me in central Amsterdam.

We also went to Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum, but no pictures allowed. I would definitely reccommend a trip if you get the chance.

Also, massive thanks to Momo and Papa for replacing my iPod!

Love,
A.Diddy

Officially going to Brussels!

Bought my ticket today for 25 Euros (round-trip, gotta love it). I'll be there from Dec. 15-20, so it's quite an extended stay. We may make a few excursions outside the city while we're at it. It'll be nice to be able to take our time in a city that I've heard is awesome (as well as being known for having some of the worlds best beer)! Also booked a (supposedly extremely clean hostel) for 23 Euros a night (115 Euro's for five nights, I'll take it).

Not going to Nuremburg this weekend (today's trip ran long) so we're just going to head up to Munich for the day tomorrow. Save cash this way too.

I am desperately hoping they are playing Borat in English there...

Live-blogging the UCLA game

Dad, my AIM name is andrewdanies. Send me a message if you have it working.

God it's good to hear Mike Parker's voice again!

Another mini-update

The group (minus 2 of us, long story) plus Fr. John and our art history prof. Dr. Loos:

BASSO ON DISCOVERY!!!

YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Paris pictures

Some pictures from Fall Tour in Paris, Ulm Metz and whatnot. Enjoy, and once again, I apoligize for the order of them. I still haven't figured this whole blogging thing out quite yet.

I thought Caitlin might like this one.

Cool race car made from other smaller race cars.

Picturesque Innsbruck.

Champagne tasting with Fr. John.

That's a lot of champagne.

Church organ in Innsbruck.

Giant bottles of Champagne.

Modern stained glass. They replaced the originals which were destroyed in the War with this. I like it.

More modern art in Chartes.

They are still obsessed with it...

Stained glass in Chartes.

Obelisk in Paris.

Napoleon's Tomb. Big place for a little guy.

Eifel Tower all lit up.

Cool Eifel Tower in the background. Creepy guy in the background too.

Top of the Eifel Tower. It was cold and very windy.

Rachel at the top.

The Champs Elysee as viewed from the Arc de Triomphe.

No elevator in the Arc de Triomphe.

No... underpants?

Me at the top of the Arc de Triomphe.

One more of the Arc.

One of the ceilings in the Louvre. It's rather new, and I love it.

Cool gold statue in Paris.

Versailles.

In front of the Louvre.

More Versailles.

Cathedral at Ulm.



And now, what you've all been waiting for...



NEW HAIRCUT!!!

Love everybody,
A.Diddy