Author: tompepinsky

We have, very fortunately, managed to find a bar in Jakarta that opens up at 5:00 AM, and which has ESPN, meaning we will be able to make it to watch the Super Bowl this year.  (We will be arriving there around 6:30 ideally, in time for kickoff on the East Coast of the US.)  This is very very good, except for now we have to deal with the fact that we actually have to watch the game, which may kill me (TP).

I think that the Sports Guy should make a ruling about sports allegiances, since he has rules about just about everything else.  For example, let’s say you live in a city that does not have its own professional teams, and more importantly, which lies in sort of near a whole bunch of sports franchises.  Harrisburg, PA, would be a nice example, since it is within four hours of five major sports markets (Philly, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washington, and NYC).  I believe that it’s fair to pick and choose what teams you like, meaning it’s OK for someone to like the Pirates in baseball and the Sixers in basketball and the Metrostars in MLS and the Redskins in football.  But what happens if a new team moves into a major market area near you, like what happened with the Ravens in football a couple seasons back and will be happening in baseball soon?  I used to think that my football allegiance was the Eagles, but then the Ravens started to exist, so I threw my loyalties to them.  But I’ve come to realize that I was never NEARLY as nervous about the Super Bowl my senior year, when the Ravens won, as I am right now, and I probably watched 75% of the NFL season that year (as opposed to none so far).  Tested in such a way, I think that this reveals that I really am still an Eagles fan first and foremost at heart.  I guess I’ve been deluding myself.  I already had one nightmare about the Super Bowl so far, for crying out loud.

At any rate, we’ll be watching the Super Bowl.  I’m not sure if there was really a point to that last paragraph.  This is what happens when JM says "you go check email, I’ll get started on dinner."

The big mosque next door to us got a new loudspeaker this week.  This means that instead of loud, the calls to prayer and general announcements are deafening, especially at four in the morning.  It is loud enough that it’s hard to watch TV; even with the sound turned way up, it just sounds like cacophony.  On the other hand, now we can tell what they are talking about when they make announcements.  For instance, the morning announcements (at 4:00 AM) start with "Bapak-bapak…ibu-ibu…sekarang waktu bangun…Bangun…Lebih baik bangun daripada tidur…Bangun…BANGUN…"  Which translates as "fathers…mothers…now it’s time to wake up…wake up…it’s better to wake up than to sleep…wake up…WAKE UP…"  After that there’s usually some sort of announcement about what’s going on that day.  Then the muezzin follows this with a very simple verse, sort of sung, sort of chanted, which he repeats for approximately six months.  OK, maybe only about 10 minutes.  This sounds like it’s in Arabic.  Then they do a prayer, which is also in Arabic, which they repeat a lot.  At which time we’ve had enough time to go to the bathroom, walk around, stare at the ceiling, and think about we hope it’s quieter in Malaysia.