aggienaut | 10 of 30 - Pictures of Shiznaz

   Erstwhile 30 in 30 participant neukolln made a post where he talked about things on his desk, which inspired me to vow to do the same. As I explained at the time, one of the awesome things about 30 in 30 is the sense of community that develops among participants. When multiple participants try to write entries about the same sort of thing it contributes to the social nature of the entire undertaking. Previous group undetakings within 30 in 30 have been the 5 in 5 challenge and 24 hours in one place, among others (the latter is the true test of blogging dedication!).

   While we're on the subject of neukolln, not only does he appear to no longer be doing 30 in 30, but it appears he has in fact abandoned that livejoural altogether and fled in fear. 30 in 30 isn't for the faint of heart. But he made a valiant effort before being devoured alive by a stag beetle.

   And so I bring you:
SHIZNAZ IN MY ROOM, EXPLAINED

The gavel of justice! Yeah ASUCD won't provide me with an official ASUCD judicial gavel so I use my own. It was given to me for my service to MVHSMUN four years ago. On a trip down to a conference in San Diego last year, airplane security actually objected to the gavel saying it was "a hammer like object," and eventually removed the shaft of the gavel but let me keep the head of it. After being thus shafted by airport security I pilfered a new gavel shaft from PAXMUN (with the permission of their Secretary-General).
When I finally leave office I think I'd like to leave a special ASUCD Supreme Court gavel to my successor. Preferably with some crafty judicial phrase on it in latin, but I'm not sure what -- any suggestions?

The transfer pad for unloading pictures from my digital camera, an extra red light bulb, trusty electric pencil sharpener, bottle of Leninade, two ASUCD placards with my name on them from previous positions, and a ceramic anteater my friend Jessie Lawson made for me.

I like sharpies. Also theres a Ska Summit pin. I was planning on going but Nick Aurora flaked out on me. ::Shakes fist:: Lenin thing is from the end of a metal flask my good friend Aaron Davis got me. I don't actually know the whereabouts of the flask at the moment but I'm confident its around here somewhere. Lastly you see my moose tie-clip from Sweden. Which brings us to the subject of ties...

My black tie, Kilkenny College tie from school in Ireland, and snail tie. Also I have a tie that was made in 1957 that I found in the back of my car down in Orange County one day, (I think it belonged to Jordan Smart), and a strongsauce Guinness tie that Kristy got me for my birthday.

This picture gives more of a sense of the total mess on my desk, but a lot of interesting shiznaz can be seen. First and foremost of course, there is some definite Hot Sauce in this picture, but there is also a Grr pin, a Melee sticker, and the pencil sharpener again! I should name the trusty pencil sharpener. Oh also there's some cholula sauce.

Yes that is the genuine bona fide Fricke coat of arms. I'm not talking internet scam kind of coat of arms either, the copy you see here was I believe scanned from the business card of my great great grandfather, an apothecary in the Prussian town of Forst. I have no idea what the significance of two crescent moons back to back with a six pointed star is. Also obviously is the UN Charter (including the Statute of the ICJ), I actually have at least two copies of that little book, and the holy Quran. I've read most of it. revchad once examined my bookshelf with the comment that you can tell a lot about a person about whats on their book shelf. I agree and will try to get a picture of the rest of the bookshelf up later.

On the subject of Quran, revchad in his second 30 in 30 entry linked to an article about alleged Quran flushing. He also made a statement I think worthy of repeating: "I've learned to be very cynical and suspicious toward my government. When they tell me "A Koran was not flushed down a toilet," I reply, "Well what was done to the Koran and what improper thing was flushed?""
What I thought was interesting about the article is it talks about how there are nine alleged cases of guards "mishandling" the Quran, five of which are confirmed, and all of which of course the world is in a frenzy -- however it also mentions that there were FIFTEEN confirmed cases of the DETAINEES themselves "mishandling the Quran" in various ways. ...Such sauce!

Elsewhere in the World: So the President of Bolivia resigned again. I mentioned last time it happened, because the Congress of Bolivia wouldn't let him resign. Well this time they let him, but both the presidents of the upper and lower house of the Bolivian congress declined to become President, leaving the fourth in line to succession, the Chief Justice of their Supreme Court as the country's President. Who would have thought being President could be so undesirable.