The Great Leap Forwards

in case you don't have hbo (or don't have a friend to mooch off of...thanks pete), check this shit out. it's a funny ass show about some folk-singing new zealanders living in new york--here's a clip:



go to http://www.hbo.com/conchords/video/index.html to see more if you're tempted.

-RFM

ps-i should be getting mad paid for this kind of word-of-mouth promo...fuck!

i am trying to put together a two-day camping trip this summer before school starts again. i would love to get any of you who can go to come to my grandparents' place near glennie, michigan (an hour or so north of bay city). for those of you who haven't been there, they have about 180 acres of forest with a little house, a pond, and a horseshoe pit. enough said? it should be a good time.

if you are interested, we are thinking about mid-august--either the 15-16 (wed/thu), or the 17-18 (fri/sat). let me know if you have a preference. ashley and i will be in chi-town until we head to my grandparents' place, with a stop by the ciudad bahía.

so bring a tent, your girls (or guys, i'm fine with that...really i am), your guns, and a few cases of beer...clothes optional (though my oma and opa will be there, so...).

one month from now i want to chug a beer in all of your faces. let's do it! come on....whooooooooo!


-RFM

hey friends,
it's been a while...i know. my apologies. school has gotten kinda crazy. it's that part of the year between breaks that the kids suck and they're sick of me and i of them. and we haven't left town since x-mas. i've been coming home and doing very little. watching TV, taking naps. and doing a lot of homework. ashley has been doing constant homework.

but i only have about three units left this year. also the weather is starting to break and it has been around 60 for the past week. and it's almost march madness. which will occupy much of my few time. things are looking up. i'm heading to VA beach for spring break. woooooo SPRING BREAK!!! another lucero show.

so, the libby's conviction. interesting stuff. it shows how anyone who pays attention know that bush/cheney cherry-picked intel (which my parents taught me is lying). but that's not the reason americans seem to be against the war--it's just because now things aren't "going well." that's what my parents called "fair-weather fans." but this is a war and people died (and continue to). and for what? nation-building? reshaping the middle east? surround iran to protect israel? what the fuck was the point? let's just hope that we don't end up with hillary vs. mccain in 2008. ugh.

anyways, take care. i miss most of you. haha.

-RFM

1. partition the country into three semi-autonomous regions

2. create an equal oil revenue-sharing agreement between regions

3. put most of america's soldiers in neighboring countries

4. get the fuck out of iraq


-RFM

that's my new nickname by the way. i thought of it myself, thank you very much.

we are heading back to the middle-west in a couple of weeks. here's our schedule for all who care:

-dec. 21-22 in ann arbor
-dec. 22-26 in bay city
-dec. 26-30 in northbrook ill.
-dec. 30-jan 1 in chicago for the new year's party!!!
-jan. 1 drive all the fuckin way back to NC and miss the UofM game...ugh

we just bought a sweet new tele. it's a samsung 42" flat-screen HDTV. needless-to-say movies look badass. i'm watching a billy bragg dvd right now. merry fucking x-mas to me (and ashley).

hope to see y'all when we're home. come to chicago for new year's. email mandy for details.

-RFM

fuck yeah!

i finally picked a winner. this coming from the guy who was a bills and a braves fan during the 1990s, and a democrat during the bush era. i'm stoked about the prospects. now the dems have to find a coherent way of acting and reacting to events and bills; the policy of "just say no" is no longer an option.

i hope they take a page out of new labor's book in UK (minus the whole iraq thing), by stealing ideas that conservatives had as of late balked on, such as fiscal responsibility, defending civil liberties, and strong but smart national defense. if they can do that, and refrain from the stereotype of being wishy-washy and tax-and-spenders, and maybe pick a decent presidental candidate for '08, then they might be able to keep power for a little while.

fun times to come. well, as jim put it, "at least i won't be send back to iraq for a third time." i would hesitate to speak too soon, but he's certainly two steps closer (no more rep. congress, no more rummy).

pete and jim are coming to town to see lucero next thursday. i think it will be the 6th or 7th time i've seen them this year. their playing with drag the river. i have a feeling it'll be a (whiskey) hell of a (drunk) time. oh yeah, and then #1 OHIO STATE plays #2 MICHIGAN. fuck yeah, go blue.

let's keep riding the wave...

-RFM

"...and because she's your sister."

"Adopted."

-RFM

-RFM

-watching notre dame v. michigan

-drinking sweet tea, smoking camels

-grading quizzes, almost all As

-75 degress, sunny, all windows open

-listening to superchunck & jawbreaker

it's amazing how much the weather changes my affect. last time i posted, it had been raining here for three days and i was in a horrible mood. now it's warm and sunny and a weekend, and i'm rockin out like no other. and i think i realized another reason why i was so down this week:

a friend of mine whom i use to teacher with last year (he left to do master's at UNC) came back on friday to shadow our principal. i realized last year that work makes for strange bedfellows. no, i didn't sleep with sean, but we became work buddies and hung out a lot outside of work, played basketball together, etc.

sean's a former frat boy from indiana. he's a married, christian republican who listens to horrible music. but because the two of us were stuck with a bunch of lame old women in a middle school, we became "the twins"--inseparable at work, and that made each day and each meeting so much better. it's weird how that happens. but now he's gone. and it kinda sucks.

-RFM

ps- in my last post, "debbie downer" was an SNL-skit reference:

hello my friends,
it's been quite a while, i know. but as i'm sure you're aware, i've just started school again. ugh. so i've been busy with all of that shit.

and it sucks. i won't get into too much detail, cause i don't like to talk shop (to all my teaching friends out there--you know what i'm talking about). but here's just a taste for those of you civilians out there who are considering teaching cause you don't know what else to do...

it is now NC state law that we need to start each day with the pledge. which is fine, except the supreme court says that we can't "make" kids do it. so half of them sit down for it cause they think that it's cool to be different. i guess. plus, we don't have flags yet, so our kids stand to the TV whilst an image of the flag and the words play. how appropriate (and orwellian). i don't mind the pledge, i don't mind god, but i think the timing is shitty for this law all-of-a-sudden. but this is apparently the only sacrifice we need to make in the "war against islamofacism."

at one of my far-too-many meetings today, they asked us whether we thought "teaching was an art or a science?" i replied to my group that it's an art, but all artists are essentially whores. they didn't like my response. they said it was becoming a science because of all the high-stakes testing and shit. then i said that i wished they'd invented a computer to do my job so that i could go read the economist at home instead of being at this stupid meeting.

i felt like tim from the office in season 1, episode 4 during the training session. i was being trained on some online testing software. i just wanted to walk out. but i didn't, i just helped the old lady next to me make a grammar test.

well, i don't mean to be a downer-debbie. i haven't checked your livejournals in a couple of weeks, but the mood has definitely soured lately. we need to perk up. i miss everyone. i saw many of you this summer, which was tits. and i hope to see all/most of you at jeremy's wedding oct. 14th. if you're not invited, you should come party in ann arbor that weekend anyways. see y'all always makes me happy, so i'll keep it mind.

your humble (civil) servant,

-RFM

hello friends. as usual, i'd like to post my news in talking-point form:

-yesterday was the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF REBEL RUN. to commemorate it, i have created a myspace page: www.myspace.com/rebelrunnc. on it, i have posted a few pics and the trailer video that many of you have seen. peep that shit out.

-ESTEVEZ FESTEVEZ was a success (until broken up by the coppers). emilio called and talked to the organizers for about 15 minutes (yes, seriously...he found out about it via charlie sheen's publicist). haha. he was honored, and said he would love to attend next year. we may call it EF-II: the esteTHON (named after an SNL sketch he was in a long time ago he told us about).

-I'M GONNA BE BACK IN ANN ARBOR august 11-13 (i'll be in bay city from aug 5-10). i would love to see each and every one of you. i'm not yet sure where i'm gonna stay...i am open to all offers. ps-i need a ride to metro airport on the 13th @ noon. cheers.

-MY SUMMER is halfway done. and i am feeling so damn lazy. i haven't done ANY work to prepare for next year. luckily, i'm teaching 8th grade social studies again so i will be able to fall-back on my lessons from next year. i hope i can get motivated soon to start checking out new lesson plans for next year, to hone my game and minimize my workload during the school year.

-RFM

This is a party that my neighbors are throwing this saturday called "ESTEVEZ FESTEVEZ." watch the trailer for more info...it should be interesting.


-RFM

ps- they spelled CAR(R)BORO wrong, but other than that it's pretty funny. we're trying to get emilio to attend, but he is apparently hard to locate these days.

hey y'all, four points:

1. the middle east is fucked up. nothing more to say about that.
2. my summer is half way over: this weekend, i'm headin' to wisconsin! then sarasota at the end of july.
3. i started eating fowl. no reason really. i will probably be a lot healthier and easier to get protein.
4. i was just thinking that everybody's all moving around and shit. so, don't post your address and let the livejournal world know where you staying at, but email me at russmayo@gmail.com.

i feel like people don't ever give address to people, since we have the internets and the cell phones and all, but i like to the addy in case i desire to send someone a postcard, or the google earth your house and spy...wait, i mean get directions to your pad if i want to stop by unannounced and drink beer on your portch until you come home. so come on, help me help you. and if you read this, and you don't send me your address, then you are DEAD to me.


-RFM

ps- half of my summer goals have fallen on their unrealistic asses, but i am still eating special K and reading a lot. i just finished "WE" and am now reading foucault's "discipline and punishment"...but it's not about sex. what a dissapointment!

well, as an avid bond reader and viewer, i am truly excited about the new bond film coming out. i was worried that after the last one, which was decent at best, the series may have come to an end.

but no...they have decided to go back and, capitalizing on the poker epidemic spreading through the US, filming the first bond novel "casino royale." and the new bond is daniel craig (for a taste of DC, check out "layer cake," a good flick). i think he's gonna be a good fit. he has more of a working class toughness, and yet a certain vulnerability that fleming writes into the books (but rarely makes it into the movies).

i doubt many of you care, but that's a sweet picture isn't it?


-RFM

the first day of MY SUMMER! yes! and it's raining like a mofo. the remnents of tropical storm alberto is swirling on through. not as hot as it normally is by mid-june; we don't even have our AC on yet. but i a week or two it will get real tropical. oh yeah baby...it's not the heat, it's the humanity.

i was going to try to work this summer to make some extra chedda, but i couldn't find anything. which is sweet, i guess--it's the benefit of doing what i do. the last summer i took off was the summer of 2001 when i lived with jim in england. and it'll be hard to top that summer.

so being that i will have a whole lotta time on my hands, and in the tradition of making promises that i can't keep, here are my ten goals for the SUMMER OF 2006:

1. watch every world cup game (i haven't missed one yet)
2. read at least one book per week (just finished #1: "on her majesty's secret service" by ian fleming, up next fitzgerald's "this side of paradise")
3. cook a lot and clean the fuck out of my apartment (mopped, vacuumed, and did the dishes today)
4. travel a hell of a lot (my plans so far are eastern NC next week, charlottesville VA the week after, VA beach for indie day, sarasota FL for topher's wedding, bay city and ann arbor in august, maybe DC, and VA beach again for jerm's party)
5. get in shape again (the special K diet, and i'm gonna start running in the morning and play basketball once or twice a week)
6. go to the driving range once a week (i plan on doing this for the next few years until i am actually good enough to play 9 holes of golf)
7. listen to more jamaican music (i don't know why, i just feel like it)
8. watch all five seasons of the sopranos (i've only seen an episode or two in my life, so i've got a lotta work to do)
9. turn all of my lectures from last school year into powerpoints with pictures and video
10. memorize the presidents in order, from GW to GWB.

wish me luck, this ain't gonna be easy.

-RFM

we got a new car! yeah!

it's kind of a soccer-mom car, but it's got balls.

we're about to give it the "single-sticker" treatment...any suggestions?


-RFM

ps- oh yeah...anybody wanna buy the cabrio?

a constitutional amendment against gay marriage? in the face of all other important issues, the conservatives have pushed the republicans to make a serious move to ban gay marriage. great.

i feel that we are gonna look back on this when we are old and grey (or in john's case, old...haha) and see it as a step backward. and to me, it is no a surprise that the republicans are on the side of writing discrimination back into the constitution. since the JFK/LBJ days, when the democrats (long the party of the jim crow south) sided with the GOP against racism, the social conservatives (meaning bigots) have slowly moved toward way from the dems toward the republicans.

look at the presidential voting patterns: since the 60s, the south/west has turned republican. it's not a coincidence that the republicans have accepted their bigotry. and where are the dems? to use the words of dueling nut-job zell miller, they seem to be a "party no more."

so in this election year, since the GOP has taken the bigots from the dems, the dems could so easily turn the tables on the republicans by running on what USED TO BE republican talking points: balanced budget, fiscal responsibility, simplifying and lowering taxes, a strong military yet not being in the business of nation-building, and most importantly keeping the federal government out of our private lives.

then what would the republicans have to run on: un-winnable wars, huge deficits, spying on americans, torture and secret prisons, bigotry against latinos and gays?

then if thinking people would only vote...

-RFM

not really. but i did make a trailer out of it. actually, it's more like a music video using footage from the RUN to the sound of a tom waits song. very entertaining.

to review for all of the laymens out there: REBEL RUN was a journey unlike any other, a potent cocktail of equal parts 'cannonball run,' 'fear and loathing,' and 'gods and generals'. here are just a few of the statistics:

-24 hours: in which to complete road race
-20 civil war battle field sites: in the state of north carolina
-20 beers: one to drink at each site
-5 friends: brother turned against brother
-4 helmets: for safety (see picture above)
-4 rules: driver can't drink, drinker can't drive...drinker must navigate, driver can't look at a map
-3 hours: of footage, shot in both cars by jim cote...director
-2 teams of 2: NC busch lite team (ash and me), VA high life team (pete and pat)
-1 line: mason-dixon...participants must be born north of, currently residing south of said line
-1 winner: it's a cliff-hanger, i'm not gonna give anything away...

its a 50 meg quicktime file, if anyone is interested in seeing it, email me and i'll send it along. a website is on the way (hopefully this summer, if my neophyte-ass can figure out how to make one). we may actually make something resembling a film out of it...who knows?

-RFM

so everyone, incase you missed it...this was teacher appreciation week.

thanks.

thanks a lot.


-RFM