Month: May 2005

News From KOREAN CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY of DPRK
Some real gems here. For instance, some of the benefits of “a new medicine ‘Polyazin’ for protection of DNA”:

It improves metabolism in liver, biliary tract, blood, immunity and psychoneurosis systems. It is also potent for the patients suffering from hypogonadism, chronic hepatitis, chronic pancreatitis and hypoacidity. It also regulates physiological activity in human body and thus delights women who want to give birth to healthy and intelligent babies.

or how about this commentary on how Kim Jong Il Gives Field Guidance to Construction Site of Wonsan Youth Power Station:

Many new edifices are now appearing in different parts of the country to be handed down to posterity along with the era of Songun thanks to the devoted efforts of our servicepersons and people single-mindedly united around the Party, he noted, adding this stirring reality clearly proves the inexhaustible strength and strong mental power of our army and people fully determined to accomplish the cause of building a great prosperous powerful nation with flying colors.

Got the computer/networking situation all squared away at Melissa’s, got in some quality time with Crash and Ella , then got online to shop for a new phone: since my poor hand-me-down Treo never really operated correctly, and Cingular wouldn’t give me a better deal for staying than they gave to new customers (slightly worse, in fact), I didn’t feel any great need to remain loyal to them. But the deals from other providers for a 650 wasn’t any better, and since my folks, my brother, and my sister-in-law are all with them, I ended up returning. Had a late lunch with Melissa (Greg was swamped) and talked some more about a possible business partnership in real estate. Stopped by Barnes and Noble and got “Embers” (SANDOR MARAI) and “The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation” (Barbara R. Rossing), then Melissa took me to BWI. Glad I was early, because the line for security reminded me of Las Vegas’. And after finally getting to the screener, they determined that the pliers and screwdrivers in my computer tool kit were prohibited items, and so I had to go mail them to myself and come back through screening again. Sigh. Luckily they let me skip the line the second time. ll post about later. 🙂

Woke up about 8, and felt fine! As a precaution, though, took a couple of Tylenol. Also felt ravenous, so gathered the troops and ate breakfast at the Menlo Park Diner (not too far from where my great-grandfather lived when he was an engineer working for Thomas Edison). Didn’t eat too much, though, because I knew there would be vast quantities of Persian goodies awaiting us at Eb’s mom’s house , and I was not disappointed. Louis and Maria brought their little dog, and Madison immediately took to her. Was a lot of fun, but had to leave at two to get to DC because Greg had gotten us tickets for Ricky Jay, which was a truly amazing demonstration of card skills. Afterwards, on the drive back, I kept pointing out houses that looked like good investment opportunities. Melissa said she had been thinking about doing some more of that, and the seeds for a business venture had been planted.

Bit of confusion about whether breakfast came with our room or not: I thought it did, the front desk didn’t. Oh, well. The Houston and DC contingents went shopping, but I stayed in the room and tried to reload on sleep. Got to the reception at 5 (the ceremony itself was family-only), and started visiting with everyone. There was eating and dancing and ululating and everyone was happy, as a wedding should be. Greg dared me to get drunk, and, for some reason, I agreed, so Greg started ordering. It was an open bar, and over the course of the evening the bartender was quite generous with the Jack in my 4 Jacks and Cokes (probably closer to 6 or 7), followed by Glenlivet, and finally ending with 2 Long Island Iced Teas. So, for only the second time in my life, I got smashed. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring my camera to the reception to document the debauchery, but there is video evidence that I’m awaiting. Portions of the alcohol removed themselves voluntarily from my system shortly when I went to the restroom before going back to the hotel, and some more decided that the trash can Melissa placed at my disposal would be a more appropriate destination. Big thanks to Melissa, Greg, and Gil for tending to me in my reduced state.

Before finally crashing at 5am, called and asked the front desk for an extended checkout time, which, luckily, they gave. Woke up around noon (though Gil took a bit longer ). The Trans had just checked out, and had gone to IHOP, and John was good enough to come back and pick us up. We transferred to the Hilton, where Melissa met up with us, then we all walked over to the MetroPark station and
went into the City. We got some pretzels and shish kabobs from a street cart, then took the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty , and got neat shots of the city in the background . We wandered through the financial district and then went into Century 21 and shopped for a bit (I got a windbreaker because it was getting downright chilly). The Trans headed back to the hotel so Madison could swim, while the rest of us went to It’s a Domincan Thing for some great food, then headed back to Jersey.