Dictators and such.

So I spent the entirety of my weekend (and I'm serious) coping with an intense head cold and watching Al Jazeera.  I've found the entire Egyptian uprising completely fascinating (I may have gotten emotional on Friday when I woke up to see the people physically removing their leader from his authority).

It should be noted that I'm really not a politically motivated person in general.  At one point I use to be staunchly Libertarian, but I just have lost most of my motivation since the 2008 election (and if you've been following my blog since then, I think the general trend has shown).  BUT I did find this impressive because , honestly, I didn't think something like this was possible (especially in such an oppressive government).

But more than anything, a colleague of mine and I noticed something very particular about Hosni Mubarak:

He's got a very "Bond Villian" thing going for him.  And for several reasons:

-He seems like a neuter, amorphous human.  Not personality-wise, but more-so with demeanor.  Expressionless yet possibly pissed off all of the time.
 
-Anyone with a state-run television station tends to fall under this category (which, I don't know if anyone noticed, but the logo for the state channel is a transforming pyramid.  I didn't think people still quoted one of the 7 wonders of the world to symbolize political empire.)

ALSO: I learned today that this man:

Is going to be the next leader of China after Hu Jintao steps down in 2012.  How does this matter? It really doesn't.  But this is his wife:

The kicker: they've been married for 20 years.

So just know that when Mubarak decides to finally fire his moon laser at the Capitol Hill, at least we can take solace in knowing that Xi Jinping's wife is a smokin' babe.

Things I've Learned in College Part 13

I decided to humor myself by enrolling in a freshmen-level philosophy class this quarter.

This takes some adjusting to, as I realize in four years I've become so disenfranchised from "the kids", especially since I went home and watched a James May documentary series after I finished class.

Aesthetic:

-The whole class smelled like a Holister clothing store. I bought a coat from that franchise on time, and that kind of smell never leaves your memory bank.

-At one point I saw a very tall freshman wearing a t-shirt that said "SWAN DIVE... into the best night of your life."

-The beards (and I'm not talking shit here) were all very scraggly.

-The girls all seemed to be dressing like a commercial hipster.  Some unnecessary denim, a lot of straight long hair.

But more than anything, I noticed my own alienation.  At one point my poor professor tried "lecturing" which amounted to me writing the minor points (what is epistemology, the difference between that and metaphysics, etc) where the students stared blankly at him, and then he referenced beer, and then a whole group of chuckles.

"God dammit" I thought to myself.

Then a kid fell asleep on the first day, and I immediately became infuriated, whereas in 2007 I would have considered copying his behavior.

But the cout de grace was when the professor made a reference to Tom Rundgren and I laughed (out loud), which shifted 10 heads or so to me, and it hit me:

I've become the "old creepy guy" in the college class.  My only goal now is to remain silent and motionless until finals week.