Professional basketball, despite having played
a crucial role in my youth, was not something I thought I would miss while
abroad. I'd already given up on the sport: I can't say for sure if it's because
the quality of NBA basketball has really gone to hell since the days of
Bird and Magic or if it's just because I'm a
Timberwolves fan, but it had gotten to the point where I
couldn't sit still in front of a game for more than five minutes. And
parting with the kind of money necessary to witness one of these sloppy,
disinterested bore-fests in person with 15,000 nacho-eaters who only make noise
when the scoreboard tells them to? Please.Weird stuff, à la française
Saturday 21 January 2012
French Professional Basketball: Sacre Bleu!
By Baron von Rupp on Saturday 21 January 2012, 15:28
Professional basketball, despite having played
a crucial role in my youth, was not something I thought I would miss while
abroad. I'd already given up on the sport: I can't say for sure if it's because
the quality of NBA basketball has really gone to hell since the days of
Bird and Magic or if it's just because I'm a
Timberwolves fan, but it had gotten to the point where I
couldn't sit still in front of a game for more than five minutes. And
parting with the kind of money necessary to witness one of these sloppy,
disinterested bore-fests in person with 15,000 nacho-eaters who only make noise
when the scoreboard tells them to? Please.Friday 20 May 2011
Bank fraud, à la française
By Baron von Rupp on Friday 20 May 2011, 16:51
I've been had. Big time. I don't know
when, where, how or by whom, but some sneaky little bastards have used every
hole in the French banking system to (temporarily) ruin my financial life...and
it turns out I'm not alone.
Then again, I've gotten to know some very friendly policeman over the last few
weeks, not one of whom has attempted to kick me out of the country or visit any
other sort of anti-immigrant evil upon my person, thus debunking the
nightly-news impression that French cops no longer do anything else with their
time. So I guess there's always a silver lining, right?
Tuesday 5 April 2011
Garden Gnomes: Sentient Beings or Private Property?
By Baron von Rupp on Tuesday 5 April 2011, 17:00
ATTENTION:
HAVE YOU SEEN THIS GNOME??
Monday 7 March 2011
World Sand Marble Championships??
By Baron von Rupp on Monday 7 March 2011, 09:56
So I'm going to the mall
one day last week, just minding my own business and BAM, I run smack into a
qualifying leg of the World Sand Marble Championships. Right
there in the mall in Caluire et Cuire! Who knew?
Saturday 8 January 2011
Packin' Heat
By Baron von Rupp on Saturday 8 January 2011, 17:30
Why would a wandering child of the United States of Handgun Rights
have to come all the way to France to know the steely joy of deadly-force
self-defense that fits in your pocket? Read on to find out.
Thursday 15 April 2010
Weird stuff à la française II
By Baron von Rupp on Thursday 15 April 2010, 20:46
This time, it's the cops.
Tuesday 6 April 2010
Weird stuff, à la française: Part I
By Baron von Rupp on Tuesday 6 April 2010, 11:38
I don't know what it is about me. I've been a magnet for bizarreness my whole life, but the parade of oddities really hit its stride after my permanent relocation to La République. From the knee-slappingly funny to the macabre to the just plain weird, it keeps coming my way. This, then, is the first in a series of short entries describing some of these adventures.
