Yes, summer 2006 is more than half way through, which calls for Paul’s annual “beer of the summer” award. As this summer started, few dared to think that the winner of this award will not be a Polish beer, however into the mid-late July, Heineken once again reclaimed it’s dominance. I though there was no more hope for any beer to top the oh-so-cliche Heineken, but boy was I wrong. So here is the moment you’ve all been waiting for:
The annual Paul’s “beer of the summer” 2006 award goes to…

Žigulinis
This Lithuanian-brewed (Gubernija brewery est. 1786) version of the classic Russian beer is a perfect pick for the summer. It comes in standard Eastern-European 0.5L bottles (that’s ~150ml more than those 12oz bottles), very light-colored and only 4.5% alcohol (because nobody likes a drunk on a hot summer day). However, the most important fact about this beer is that it does not leave you in “emo despair mode”, riding a NYC transit train with your head slammed to the window. I think with that said, there is no doubt that no other beer can top Zigulinis as a “beer of the summer” for 2006. Drink up, mates!

Today while I was riding an N train in the city, some attractive young female happened to offer me a free frisbee. That made my short visit to the city much more entertaining, since I was able to play “hit the hipster with a frisbee” game. Glorious times.

Recently I have realized that I’ve grown up. Like the other day I was walking on the beach, and the people there usually like to write something in the sand in big letters, presuming that the people flying the helicopters will care to read it. 99% of the time they either write their name, such as “JAMAL”, or draw a big penis, thinking that it makes them so witty and avant-garde. Yet, I saw this one little four or five year old kid who was actually drawing a ship in the sand with such great ambition. It warmed my heart to see that, but it also made me realize that I’m growing up, since I no longer would draw something on the beach just for the joy of drawing it, even though it will be washed away in a few hours.
Then yesterday in the evening there was a bunch of dragonflies flying around, and there was a family sitting on the bench with a little kid. The kid would get so excited each time a dragonfly would fly by, he would just point at it and laugh out of excitement. He could do that for hours and have the time of his life. I realized once again, I no longer get excited about dragonflies…
I’m growing up

Tonight was a good night on myspace.

Today my laziness reached its apex. I’m laying down with a nice pillow and those comfy noise-isolating headphones I got recently, listening to my 60s pop. And just as my playlist comes to an end, I get an urge to listen to this Harry Nilsson song, but I’m too lazy to get up and put it on. Well, I ended up replaying the entire song in my head, with my headphones on and all. Ah, the lazy days.

So today the internet got cut off at work, so unfortunately I couldn’t watch the game in which France defeated Portugal. However, I got an anxiety attack when I heard that France made it to the finals. Right now, I don’t care about anything else but the final on Sunday, so I decided to express my love for the World Cup here.
My first World Cup watched was France 1998. I actually remember getting one of those album thinggies where you’d collect sticker-cards of players and all. Ah, being 8 years old was fun. Anyways, I rooted for France in that World Cup ever since seeing the France - Denmark game in the group round. I don’t know why, but they left a great impression on me. Ever since then I admired France. I know for some it may sound ridiculous to have a favorite team that you’re not even related to in any way, but at the time teams from Eastern Europe did not shine in soccer, so in addition that I couldn’t root for my home country of Lithuania, I couldn’t even root for any neighboring countries such as Latvia, Belarus, Poland, Estonia, or even Russia, since none of them qualified.
World Cup 98 was what actually influenced my interest in soccer. I remember that the final game was really late and I couldn’t watch it, only my grandpa stood up to watch it and I got quite happy when I heard about France defeating Brazil 3:0 in the morning.
In two years, when Euro 2000 came, I was already fully supporting France from the very start, and at the end I had no regrets about it. I watched almost every single game of the entire Cup. However, I can still remember the Knockouts like it was yesterday. France’s 2-1 victory over Spain, Zidane scoring that penalty, given due to a hand ball in the box versus Portugal in semi-finals (I literally couldn’t speak a word between the foul whistle and the goal whistle). And of course, the final, where France was behind 0:1 the whole game and just when my family were like “well Italy is taking this one”, I still had that childish hope, and on the 90th minute Wiltord ties the score. That was the kind of feeling that Tchaikovsky wouldn’t be able to express musically. And of course, Trezeguet’s golden goal left me jumping up and down the whole night. It was as if I was there on France’s team, taking the cup with them. Euro 2000 changed my life, since after it I joined a local soccer team and became really involved in the sport. I had the poster of France winning Euro 2004, with Didier Deschamps holding up the cup. And of course, Zinedine Zidane became my idol, he was my motivation of what I can become if I practice hard.
France’s performance in World Cup 2002 was horrific, but I wasn’t really into it because of all the changes that happened in my life. I was just disappointed that France didn’t go far. Euro 2004 wasn’t too bright either when they lost to Greece in Quarterfinals (but then again, Greece took the cup).   And now in World Cup 2006, I was somehow pleased with France’s game versus Switzerland and Korea, yet very dissatisfied with the results. I definitely supported France, but rooted for other teams more, such as USA, Sweden, Ukraine… And all of the sudden, I’m watching France - Spain game at work and they are simply amazing, just like the France that I used to root for when I was a kid. So ever since that game, I only regretted for losing hope in them for a while. And now, they fought their way to the finals, defeating Brazil and Portugal.
Right now, I think Sunday is gonna be the greatest day of my summer, no matter the outcome of the game. It’s Zidane’s last game, which possibly means that it’s the last game of this French soccer team. And now I realized that it’s possibly going to be my last chance of feeling like that eight year old kid, who had an album of collectable soccer stickers, after hearing that his favorite team beat Brazil in the finals 3:0. And that’s really what soccer and World Cup is about, it’s not whether your country is better than someone elses country, it’s not whether you’re a bigger fan of soccer than someone else. It’s about that feeling of being a child who puts all of his hopes into one game, and for 90 minutes completely escapes the pressure of life.

F|O|O|T|B|A|L|L - my anti-drug
(sorry for using the term soccer in my “essay”, I attend an American school)

you know what would be nice? a free belle&sebastian show… only indoors. wouldn’t that be like the greatest show ever?

yeah, saw them in Battery Park today. it was amazing, except for the weather, which ruined everything.