I am an American expat living in Germany. It's a far away land on the other side of the ocean. It's interesting and often weird here. If you read this and want to comment then email me at nate(the at symbol)chillmost.com. If you find any spelling or grammar mistakes, you can keep them.
the taxman taketh away and then, umm, giveth back?
D00d1!! Tax refund for 2002: 1.166,75 EUR
I actually had to officially "leave the Catholic church" in order to get the Kirchensteuer back. Don't worry. As far as the Pope is concerned I'm still a member of the club. I couldn't really give a shit though.
I'm going to donate some of that to a charity that helps foreigners. Many foreigners here haven't had such an easy transition in Germany as I have. Gotta spread the love. knowmsayin?
The Ball Is Dead! Long Live The Ball!
No wonder they couldn't find him.
So I downloaded the Grey Album that everybody is talking about. It's ai-aight. I wish a different rapper would released something called "The Black Album". I really don't like Jay-Z's style. His flow is kinda like a wagon with broken wheels.
Yeah, that's right. I said it. What?
EMI should just clear the samples and make some chedda with the whole deal. Yeah, DJ Danger Mouse shoulda went through the proper channels and cleared the samples, but the Beatles/Apple Corps. are supposedly renowned for denying sampling requests. If he would have submitted the tracks and EMI would have denied the sampling rights they could have automatically claimed ownership, confiscated the masters, hard drives, DATs, and we may have never gotten the chance to hear it.
Or is it Michael Jackson who owns thee rights to the White Album? In that case he should grant the requests cuz he needs the cha-ching.
.........
And what's with all the hubbub over the gay marriage over there? Never-mind that it's all about basic human rights. 50% of all marriages fail, are they afraid homosexuals are going to do it better? What's the big deal?
Oh right, it's an election year. I forgot. We need to have an campaign issue to deflect attention from the economy and the situation in Iraq.
*sigh*
Anyway here is a good article about it from Savage Love.
Today I was again on the Musikalisches Quartet, a radio show hosted by my friend Ingo. I introduced AIR's Talkie Walkie. The others brought Tasty by Kelis, the self-titled debut from Franz Ferdinand and Blah Blah Nonstop by Stoppock, which was my least favorite. Over all it was a lot of fun and I wasn't too nervous speaking German live on the air before tens of people. That is, if they were listening.
One more while we're at it
IHT: Giving science the brushoff: "Although the Bush administration is hardly the first to politicize science, no other U.S. presidency in recent memory has so shamelessly distorted scientific findings for policy reasons, or suppressed them when they conflicted with political goals, as George W. Bush's has."
Good night
It's the link that is sweeping the world!
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Now the Pentagon tells Bush: climate change will destroy us
- Secret report warns of rioting and nuclear war
- Britain will be 'Siberian' in less than 20 years
- Threat to the world is greater than terrorism
Got no time to wonder why. Whoopee! We're all gonna die!
I wonder if the secret report is real or if it is just a screenplay that got mixed up with W's papers. If it's a screenplay, the president is probably portrayed by Morgan Freeman.
It's Karneval Time Again courtesy of the FAZ's Living in Germany section.
