BigDog by Boston Dynamics is probably the most amazing thing I have ever seen. I don't know whether to be excited or to be scared shitless.

Continuing with the Armenia theme for a while here...I will post more...CNN had some advertisements for Armenia at some point. Here are two of them.






I want to get the Coat of Arms tattooed somewhere. No room on my arms or my chest...so I may have to go with my back? I don't know..




This is the National Anthem...in Armenian and in English.

Armenian

Mer Hayrenik

Mer hayrenik', Azat Ankakh,
Vor aprel eh tareh tar,
Yoor vorik'e ard kanchum eh
Azat, Ankakh Hayastan.

Aha', yeghpayr, kez mi drosh,
Vor im dzerkov gortsetsi,
Gishernere yes koon cheghah,
Artasukov lvatsi.

Nayir nran yerek guynov,
Nvirakan mer nshan,
Togh poghpoghi t'shnamu dem,
Togh misht pandsah Hayastan.

Amenayn tegh mah'e mi eh,
Mard mi angam pit merni,
Bayts yerani ovr yur azgi
Azatutyan k'e zohvi.


English

Our Fatherland
Land of our fathers, free, independent,
Which has endured from age to age.
Its sons and daughters now proclaim
Armenia, sovereign and free.
Its sons and daughters now proclaim
Armenia, sovereign and free.

Brother, take this banner,
Made with my own hands,
During sleepless nights,
And bathed in my tears.
During sleepless nights,
And bathed in my tears.

See, it has three colours;
A single hallowed symbol.
May it sparkle before the foe,
May Armenia flourish ever!
May it sparkle before the foe,
May Armenia flourish ever!

Death is everywhere the same,
Man is born just once to die,
But blessed is he who gives his life
To defend his nation's freedom.
But blessed is he who gives his life
To defend his nation's freedom.

Einstürzende Neubauten - Armenia

Armenia has been in the news lately. It's pretty exciting for me. If you had asked me if I cared 4 years ago, my answer would have been, "No, not really."

It's a different story today. A few years ago, I found out that my grandfather on my mom's side had been orphaned at 2 years old because of the genocide. They killed his whole family. Well, almost. He found out years later that he had a sister outside of the country and he wasn't allowed to see her because of the Soviet rule at the time. He died without meeting her.

My grandmother on my dad's side also lost all of her family. She grew up in a French missionary where she learned French fluently and kept until she was of age.

All but one of my grandparents were orphaned during that time.

I'd like to show you the country of my origin. People don't have any idea what the country is like. They must think it's a middle eastern country that has nothing to offer. It's neither middle eastern nor is it empty of all life. I was there once, 10 years ago. Let me show you a bit of the country now:


A church from the 4th century, I believe. In the background is Mt. Ararat (now a part of Turkey, but the biggest part of Armenian history until it was taken away).


Yerevan at night


Beautiful image of a church


The city again


Kiosk with some writing (I should really learn to write and read)


13th century Monastery with Khachkars (Khachkar literally means cross-stone)


Woman reading the paper


Government building at night


Mourning the assassination of Hrant Dink


View of the Marriott in the town center


Another view of the town center. The kids go swimming in the very large fountains


Kids swimming


Echmiadzin, the holiest site in Armenia. In 2000 it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.


Outskirts of Armenia


Streets of Yerevan


Armenian girls probably from the mostly untouched Highlands


Kids playing in a chess tournament

Well, that's all I have to show for now.

Read about the Armenian Genocide.

Oh, it's true. I do love Lily Allen.

One of the many reasons why:

so my nephew, who is 3 and half years old, said something that bothered me a great deal today.

Well, let me get into the back story a bit. He has a baby sister who is about 3 months old now (and who is cute as hell, btw). He's jealous, but this started far before that. He's always been the bad kid at his "school". He's been sent home three times, his parents have been called on numerous occasions and he's made more kids cry than any doctor ever could.

On the plus side, he's honestly the smartest kid I have ever known. At 2 years old, you could have full conversations with him and he'd answer back without any problem with the language at all. He's very perceptive. There really is no fooling him. To top it off, he has an imagination beyond that of most kids his age. Being that his last name really is GUMP, I can say this to him: "You're a God damned genius, Gump!"

So the problem came today when I was playing with him and he got nasty and started being mean to me. You'll have to understand at this point that I am his favorite person in the world. So I sit him down and want to talk with him. I do it all in a playful way so he doesn't feel like he's in trouble.

Me: Ryan, why are you mean to people?
Him: Because I don't want them to be around.
Me: Why not, don't you want to play with them?
Him: No, I don't like them.
Him: I want to be a bad person.
Me: A bad person? Why do you want to be a bad person?
Him: If I'm bad, I get to go to mama.

That, coupled with the fact that he has repeatedly said he wants to smash his sister's head in, is quite frightening.

He's capable of so much. He's such a smart kid with one great imagination. I hope he doesn't become a bad person like he wants to be. The world needs good, smart, creative people, otherwise all hope is lost.

What do you think about it all? Am I over-reacting?

going to go see Gogol Bordello tonight
it's going to be amazing

edit: so...it was amazing. it's impossible not to jump around and dance until you feel like your about to pass out. Only with Gogol Bordello do you feel that way.

I ended up going backstage and to the afterparty. Hung out, drank and smoked with the band, met many interesting people. had my picture taken. chatted a bit with Elijah Wood. chatted a bit with people from all walks of life. It was great.

I'll be seeing them again in October.

When I was a little itsy bitsy kid, we used to have Share-and-tell. I used to bring all kinds of things like my pet turtle, GI Joes and even my magnifying glass.

However, nothing I shared really did me any good.

My Turtle had all this nails broken off that day and bled a lot. Stormshadow was never to be seen again and well, I'm pretty sure my magnifying glass pretty much sealed the fate of a hundred thousand ants.

But that's all in the past, so I will share with you all (all 2 of you who read this...maybe), a couple of pictures. Of them has no significance, really, and the other is just about the cutest thing you'll see all day...maybe even ever.

I present to you...

NOW...on to the cutest thing you'll see...

That is all I have for now. Please, do not mangle, steal or burn these photos. It took a lot for me to share those with you.

07/07/07

I will be seeing The Decemeberists @ The Hollywood Bowl WITH the LA Symphony Orchestra

and I'm up close.

There's one for the books.


Also...sometime a few weeks ago I went to VNV Nation here in LA, went back stage and hung out with the men who changed my life some odd years ago (VNV Nation, of course). Though, I wish I wasn't as drunk so I could at least remember a bit more of it.