Schrieber's Schriebings

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

A Picture is Worth 5 Euro (Each)

(A story from Rome, Italy, in Early September)

This story is about a man nicknamed "Drunk Roman Legionnaire on Leave in the Countryside," and he clearly deserved it. While wandering through Rome after being awake for 30 hours, myself and some friends tried to get into an archeological site by walking through the exit instead of the entrance. While attempting this, we were approached by a man dressed as a Roman Legionnaire, and he said: "I have two things to say: first, this is the exit. Second, would you like a picture?" Thinking that because it was our first day in Italy it would be a good memory, I said yes, and was surprised that when I tried to hand my camera to a friend to take the picture, the soldier intercepted it and told us to go stand by his friend, another soldier about twenty yards away. So myself and three others walked down, and this legionnaire, the drunk man from the opening sentence, began telling us how to pose. He told Nick: "F--- you boy, get down" but Nick wouldn't, so he grabbed his ear and started to move him down (apparently it was vital to the photo). That is why Brian is on the ground in the picture, because he didn't want to push the guy.

After the photo was taken, he asked each of us: "Boy, Bush or Obama?"
Brian said: McCain. Wrong. "F--- you boy, get down"
I said: Obama. Wrong. "F--- you boy, get down"
Joey said: Neither. Wrong. "F--- you boy, get down"
Nick said: Obama. Still wrong. "F--- you boy, get down"
So with the four of us piled up, he put his foot up and said "George Bush is president!"
Which is wrong, but it was a lost cause.

So then his friend, who has taken some pictures, mostly of us standing there, returns our cameras and says: "5 Euros" (aka $7.50). I thought, well it was my camera and idea, maybe the guys can pay me back a bit, so I handed him 5 Euros, the first money I spent in Europe. Then he turns to Joey, Nick, and Brian and says 5 Euro. Short story shorter, we pay a combined 20 Euros ($30) for this picture, and story.

The End

Welcome!

I decided that this is the official grand opening of this blog, about 9 months after it was created. The reason being that I am actually going to start writing on it (I say that now). I was just too busy while in Italy to write, which is good for me, because I was busy, and for you, because I was doing things worth writing and maybe reading about. Now I can just pass on those stories/adventures that have stuck with me until now, in random fashion, without flooding Facebook notes with them.

I recently made this video: http://www.vimeo.com/8567797 and thought it would be cool for my first few stories to stem from that. And so it began:

Morti the Puppy:
(the black dog that rushes across the screen)
Morti, short for both Mortimus and Mortimer because we couldn't decide what his name should be, is a very nice black dog that lives on the island of Capri in Italy. He has three friends, but out of all of them he is the nicest and loves people the most. He also understands English, because when we said: "Hey Puppy" he left his buddies and ran over to see us. He likes being petted, and making people's days. That's all I know about Morti.

Santa Creep:
In America, as I'm sure we all know, Santa is a big jolly man who brings us presents and kids love Santa. In Amsterdam, Santa is the same, but he has a little friend who traditionally is in charge of the coal for bad kids. In German festivals in London, Santa is a youthful looking guy who has a fake white beard, and holds his sides while laughing creepily, outside of a terrifying funhouse with scary noises where children get trapped. Not a fan. However, German - British Christmases also feature a singing moose head, which almost makes up for it.

I Fell Off a Cliff:
Switzerland is my favorite foreign country, by far. In addition to hot chocolate, and eating solely cheese (fondue) for dinner, you can jump off cliffs and swing through canyons. There are some videos on Facebook, but you walk out on a platform attached to a top of a cliff, strapped to a rope that is attached to another rope stretched across the top of the canyon. Then you step off the latform, and freefall for 3 seconds, though it feels like much longer. Then it becomes a giant rope swing through the canyon! It was AMAZING, ne of my favorite exeriences of forever. Fortunately, I had a dream two nights ago that I went again. Loved it.

I'll end this grand opening post (Whoo! confetti/balloons!) with the closing dialogue of the video, audio from my documentary on sugar dissolving in water:

"How long should I film this?"
"You probably shouldn't have even started."
"So like, five more seconds?"
"At least."

Monday, November 9, 2009

My Bad(s)!

So a few of my shortcomings need to be addressed (note: this is not an invitation for a comprehensive list of my shortcomings);

1) Sorry I spelled "abode" wrong. I went with adobe. What is ironic is that I always wanted to pronounce it a-dobe because it rhymes with abode, but I wouldn't have been able to say what an abode was.

2) I accidentally had made this blog in such a way that I was moderating the comments, which were being sent to an e-mail address that no longer exists. So I just now saw/added everyone's comments as I was going to write a new post. I feel like Harry Potter in the second book when he doesn't think anyone is writing to him, but it is only because Draco made Dobby block all of his mail, then he gets all of his mail at once.

3) I have not updated this since reaching Italy, which is why I created it!! My plan was to use the iPhone to easily take pictures and write little descriptions and add them like Luke always did at Ultimate tournaments, but then I didn't bring my iPhone. Facebook works better for that stuff anyway, and I pretty much use Notes as a blog post. I'll work on getting more Italy info out soon.

That is enough shortcomings for one day! I'll add a picture of a place near my abode and stop moderating comments to redeem myself.

Pisa Out
--Davide