The R.E.M. Post
I decided to title it that because I have like, three points related to REM to bring up in this entry. 1. While I was still in America, over the summer, I was listening to a classic rock station. REM came on it! I would like to know when REM became classified as classic rock?! The more insane thing is that I was talking to one of my flatmates, who is, obviously, from Scotland and she said that she heard the exact same thing. REM came on a Scottish classic rock station! Is it just me or does this seem bizarre? 2. I had never heard REM's "At My Most Beautiful" before today (I borrowed Lucy's Best of REM cd) - it is painfully gorgeous! For some reason, it just hit those inner chords that make my heart ache. Fantastic. 3. I thought I had three points, but I realized that I only have two - sorry! Maybe I should retitle the post...
I mentioned before that they do indeed have The OC on television over here, but the greatest thing is their commercial for it. It shows all these scenes, says various things about in the OC, sex is always on the menu and other such nonsense, but then at the very end of the advertisement, this woman says in this shockingly commanding voice: "Welcome to the OC bitch." This description hardly does it justice but it is the most hilarious thing.
Pamela's friend Alex, from Fort William, stayed with us yesterday and today. I didn't go out with them all last night, so I only really got to talk to him today. We got talking about me being from America and eventually the question "so how do you like Scotland?" came up (because it always does) and that was when the conversation because really awkward because of course I was like, "Oh it's fantastic, and gorgeous - I just love it here" and then he was like "What are you talking about - Scotland's shite." How are you supposed to proceed after that? Anyhow then I went on to talk about the lack of history in America and how everything over here is so old - and he was like "that's cuz we're too poor to build anything new." The whole conversation went pretty much like that, for about half an hour. It was really terrible - but I must have somehow saved myself from sounding like a complete arse, because about five minutes before he had to leave to catch his bus back to Dundee (where he attends university) he was like "I have to say, you're really attractive" which TOTALLY caught me off guard because then I just stuttered for about 30 seconds and was like "well you're really cute too" which wasn't a lie, he was, sort of young Mick Jagger-esque, but the whole scene came COMPLETELY out of the blue. So then it was like "well you better go catch your bus... I'll probably never see you again." Really odd day. I'll have to figure out how to handle conversations like that in the future - Johanna, prepare yourself as well.
I met this guy, Sam, from UPenn about a week ago. He's in my Scottish History class. When I met him, I had no idea what was going on - I almost missed the first meeting of Scottish History, and would've, if he hadn't told me about it. We got to talking and then he says, "Wow, you're really unorganized. Not at all what I'd expect from a Wharton student." I was like, Bullet Through The Heart! Ouch! I felt so insulted. But it was true. I had lost a lot of my Wharton-ness. I've gotten a bit more together since then, but I am still only a fraction of the anal-retentive uber-organized completely OCD Wharton freak I used to be. It changes you over here. The professors, the students, the adminstrators, nobody here is organized - it's strange how quickly one can adapt his or her behavior to the environment.
I love walking down the streets of Edinburgh. The buildings are just gorgeous. The people (for the most part) are gorgeous. And you're pretty much just surrounded by beauty. What is even better is walking down the street with my MP3 player on, because then that just adds music to the mix, when pumps up the enjoyability factor even more. Some of the best ones I've been listening to are:
"New Slang" -The Shins
"Instant Pleasure" -Rufus Wainwright
"Women's Realm" -Belle and Sebastian
"Sex Bomb" -Tom Jones (this one would explain how I get an odd sort of strutting to my walking sometimes - people are probably like, what the fuck is with her, but my hips just go completely mad to this song!)
Try it sometime!
"Yeah you're worth the trouble and you're worth the pain
And you're worth the worry, I would do the same
If we all went back to another time
I will love you over."
-Belle and Sebastian, "Like Dylan in the Movies"
***These lyrics can make almost any landscape incredibly beautiful - one of my favorite verses of all time.***
Note: I know I went through like, a B&S overdose last year after the concert, but I can't help listening to them here, now that I'm actually IN Scotland - they fit perfectly.
Did you know that Edinburgh used to be know as Dunedin - which is incredibly close to Dunedain - Tolkien friends Holla!
There was no point to that last comment.
Guns 'n Roses is immensely popular over here. They are played and mentioned EVERYWHERE. It's crazy - although I must admit, I do like some of their stuff. Sam has this one poster with Axl Rose wearing a kilt - it's fabulous. Also, a note on fashion, most of these kids dress like they're rock stars - it's amazing. Ripped jeans, goth accessories, dyed hair, leg warmers for christs sake. I feel like the odd one out in my amazingly conservative clothing. But it's cool, I like it - in fact, I'm incredibly jealous of their boldness.
I had Scottish History today and took to reading the multitudes of phrases inscribed on the wooden desk in front of me. The three most amusing for today were:
"Edward 1st fucks the Scots pussy"
"Long live the Irish (crossed out) English (crossed out) Scots (crossed out) Irish Kings"
"The Scots fuck Edwards Army at Stirling Bridge"
You have to admire their passion for history.
I mentioned before that they do indeed have The OC on television over here, but the greatest thing is their commercial for it. It shows all these scenes, says various things about in the OC, sex is always on the menu and other such nonsense, but then at the very end of the advertisement, this woman says in this shockingly commanding voice: "Welcome to the OC bitch." This description hardly does it justice but it is the most hilarious thing.
Pamela's friend Alex, from Fort William, stayed with us yesterday and today. I didn't go out with them all last night, so I only really got to talk to him today. We got talking about me being from America and eventually the question "so how do you like Scotland?" came up (because it always does) and that was when the conversation because really awkward because of course I was like, "Oh it's fantastic, and gorgeous - I just love it here" and then he was like "What are you talking about - Scotland's shite." How are you supposed to proceed after that? Anyhow then I went on to talk about the lack of history in America and how everything over here is so old - and he was like "that's cuz we're too poor to build anything new." The whole conversation went pretty much like that, for about half an hour. It was really terrible - but I must have somehow saved myself from sounding like a complete arse, because about five minutes before he had to leave to catch his bus back to Dundee (where he attends university) he was like "I have to say, you're really attractive" which TOTALLY caught me off guard because then I just stuttered for about 30 seconds and was like "well you're really cute too" which wasn't a lie, he was, sort of young Mick Jagger-esque, but the whole scene came COMPLETELY out of the blue. So then it was like "well you better go catch your bus... I'll probably never see you again." Really odd day. I'll have to figure out how to handle conversations like that in the future - Johanna, prepare yourself as well.
I met this guy, Sam, from UPenn about a week ago. He's in my Scottish History class. When I met him, I had no idea what was going on - I almost missed the first meeting of Scottish History, and would've, if he hadn't told me about it. We got to talking and then he says, "Wow, you're really unorganized. Not at all what I'd expect from a Wharton student." I was like, Bullet Through The Heart! Ouch! I felt so insulted. But it was true. I had lost a lot of my Wharton-ness. I've gotten a bit more together since then, but I am still only a fraction of the anal-retentive uber-organized completely OCD Wharton freak I used to be. It changes you over here. The professors, the students, the adminstrators, nobody here is organized - it's strange how quickly one can adapt his or her behavior to the environment.
I love walking down the streets of Edinburgh. The buildings are just gorgeous. The people (for the most part) are gorgeous. And you're pretty much just surrounded by beauty. What is even better is walking down the street with my MP3 player on, because then that just adds music to the mix, when pumps up the enjoyability factor even more. Some of the best ones I've been listening to are:
"New Slang" -The Shins
"Instant Pleasure" -Rufus Wainwright
"Women's Realm" -Belle and Sebastian
"Sex Bomb" -Tom Jones (this one would explain how I get an odd sort of strutting to my walking sometimes - people are probably like, what the fuck is with her, but my hips just go completely mad to this song!)
Try it sometime!
"Yeah you're worth the trouble and you're worth the pain
And you're worth the worry, I would do the same
If we all went back to another time
I will love you over."
-Belle and Sebastian, "Like Dylan in the Movies"
***These lyrics can make almost any landscape incredibly beautiful - one of my favorite verses of all time.***
Note: I know I went through like, a B&S overdose last year after the concert, but I can't help listening to them here, now that I'm actually IN Scotland - they fit perfectly.
Did you know that Edinburgh used to be know as Dunedin - which is incredibly close to Dunedain - Tolkien friends Holla!
There was no point to that last comment.
Guns 'n Roses is immensely popular over here. They are played and mentioned EVERYWHERE. It's crazy - although I must admit, I do like some of their stuff. Sam has this one poster with Axl Rose wearing a kilt - it's fabulous. Also, a note on fashion, most of these kids dress like they're rock stars - it's amazing. Ripped jeans, goth accessories, dyed hair, leg warmers for christs sake. I feel like the odd one out in my amazingly conservative clothing. But it's cool, I like it - in fact, I'm incredibly jealous of their boldness.
I had Scottish History today and took to reading the multitudes of phrases inscribed on the wooden desk in front of me. The three most amusing for today were:
"Edward 1st fucks the Scots pussy"
"Long live the Irish (crossed out) English (crossed out) Scots (crossed out) Irish Kings"
"The Scots fuck Edwards Army at Stirling Bridge"
You have to admire their passion for history.
posted by Melinda at 9:23 PM
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