As you might expect the internet connection here at the Ngorongoro Conservation Area is rather slow. That means that I will not be uploading any pictures any time soon… seeing as it is also relatively expensive.

We arrived in Arusha, Tanzania on the 21st and immediately went to the “Mountian Lodge” where we stayed overnight. We also met our guide (who will be with us the whole time we are here) named Moses… who is also a fountain of useful knowledge about pretty much everything in Africa from geology to ecology. The place was gorgeous and literally bursting with tropical flowers. Its on the property of a coffee plantation near Arusha. From there we headed to the Tarangire River Camp outside of the Tarangire National Park southwest of Arusha. The camp is just outside the park and is staffed almost completely by local Maasai. There is something very awsome about being lead on a walk around the African bush by two guys who carry spears pretty much everywhere they go. The next morning we went on a “game drive” which is pretty much driving around and looking at animals. I really wanted to get out and hike around because it is amazingly beautiful everywhere you go… but it is pretty much impossibly dangerous for a big family like mine (although I would love to come back and backpack somewhere, although Moses said that it is not really done anywhere except Kilimajaro). I have incredible pictures which I will post as soon as possible, but probably not until I get back. Just let me say that we got close enough to touch elephants from the safari vehicle (which is a converted Range Rover Defender that is pretty spare but perfect for driving around and seeing animals on dirt roads in Africa).

We saw 186 elephants the first day and 60 something giraffes with innumerable zebra, babboons, wildebeast, hartabeast, mongeese, dik-dik, monkeys, monitor lizards, a rock hyrax, gazelle, impala, cape buffalo, and gangs of crazy birds.

The next day we visited a Maasai village and the home of one of the Maasai that work at the camp. It is pretty incredible to see people living the exact same way that you see Maasai living in the models at the Chicago Field Museum.

Today we met up with the whole group of hand surgeons and their families. We went on a short game drive and saw our first lions and hyena, which are incredible. I am running out of minutes but I will wrap it up by promising pictures again and letting everyone know that this is definitely the coolest vacation ever.

So I’ve finally jumped on the del.icio.us bandwagon and I’ve got to say, I’m quite impressed. I can’t say it’s really all that useful or that it helps me get anything done more efficiently, but it’s fun nonetheless. As you can see, on the sidebar of the page I’ve added auto-updating lists of my del.icio.us bookmarks and those of people I’m subscribed to in my inbox (currently just Andy). If you would like your del.icio.us bookmarks to be included just let me know your username and I’ll put them up. Should be pretty fun. Currently, they’re set to update every 15 minutes, but the RSS feeds don’t update but every two hours, so it doesn’t much matter.

This one has been a long time in the works… but I finished it for you to enjoy while I am gone.

So here in America we have a grand tradition of appropriating Asian culture. We love kung fu. California can’t get enough of “Eastern” spirituality. Asian food is a must in almost all walks of life round this northern half of the continent. However, there has always been a strained relationship between Asian and American culture. So any time I get to see a movie like Kung Fu Hustle I am filled with joy. The cross-appropriation of Chinese imitating American values, shown to an American audience looking for Chinese values is almost too much to bear. The movie is glorious. The combination of 1920’s gangster film, Looney-Tunes cartoon lampooning, Bruce Lee, West Side Story, Kurosawa, cowboy films, and every samurai movie ever makes for a savory movie dish. It is not as if this kind of film is completely new. The cross-reference of The Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven falls into this type of category, but I have not seen a film where all of the cross continental elements have been combined so well in one epic tale. Tarentino’s Kill Bill series certainly looms large in this setting, but Kung Fu Hustle has a certain flair that has not been seen before.

The movie is essentially a redemption tale about a kid turned wannabe gangster turned natural Kung Fu master. Stephen Chow (who plays the protagonist, Sing) is the actor/director behind this and Shaolin Soccer (you might be noticing a patters here). He does a fantastic job of brining out the slapstick comedy in the film while never becoming too cheesey. The message is about the incredible aptitudes trapped inside “ordinary” people. It’s fun, it is not overly serious like other films in the genre (i.e. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The House of Flying Daggers), and the cartoonish fight sequences are masterpieces in Kung Fu experimentation. I highly reccomend this one and hope that Chow comes up with something really excellent for his next US release.

OK kids… I will be out of the office for the next few weeks, but I will leave you with something fun before I go. The current itinerary looks a little like this:

Africa should be incredible. And it should be fun to hang out in New York for a while. Anyone who will be there during that time drop me a post. As far as the job search goes the one I really want right now is helping a Ph.D. set up a virology lab at University of Chicago. I think I have a good chance of getting this job and it is a really excellent job, although I still haven’t heard anything from several places I applied. I will leave you with a movie review before I go as well. Enjoy.

Well I finally decided to spend a bunch of money and buy a car. What money you ask? The money I don’t have but will be making starting in September. Here’s a picture. It’s a 2001 Jetta 1.8L turbo Wolfsburg edition. If anyone wants to drive with me from Oregon to Indiana sometime in the August 1st to 7th region let me know, I’m looking for someone to do the drive with. Secondly, there are lots of new pictures from both graduation and the road trip from Maine back to Oregon up in the gallery, so check them out!

Well we made it back to Bend at about 5am this morning … slept for awhile and now I’ve got about 6 weeks at home before heading back to Indiana and starting grad school. Hope everyone is doing well … hit me up. On a secondary note, I’m looking for something cool to do with this website while I’m home, so feel free to post ideas, etc. Who knows, I may actually do one of them.

Since I have “l33t h4×0r sK11Lz” I (Andy) have been able to totally r0×0rz Costa’s B0×0rz.

All I really wanted to let you all know is that Costa has been picked up and he is on his way… TO MOUNT RUSHMORE… yeeaaayyyy. Last I heard he was crossing into Missouri with Brian and Brian’s girlfriend (forgot her name already). That is all I have on Costa.

I will be here in Indiana for the duration of the summer, except for the dates from June 19th to July 1st when I will be in Africa. Don’t worry I am college educated and (now) highly immunized so I should be fine. I start taking my anti-malaria drugs in a week and they are supposed to cause “vivid and possibly disturbing dreams.” I think I will keep a log of all the weird stuff I dream. I will keep this log as myself (afischer) not the moniker I am currently 0wnzx0ring (acosta). I promise that I will strive to make this site much less lame and post some good reviews and op-ed peices for you great digital unwashed. So keep in touch and stay safe.

In about an hour I’ll be off to Oregon. Got an apartment at Purdue yesterday … SUCH a nice place. Secondly, my honors project has now been published by Bowdoin College. See here. You can read it if you like here.