Bob steals something from a Portuguese blogger o bloggeusse

Whenever I watch too much Fox News and get to thinking that Europe is a Bad, Corrupt, Exhausted America-Hating Place full of Depraved people who drink wine and wear berets and take naps in the afternoon when they should be working, and don't throw enough Evil People in prison, and have cute perky young mistresses but nobody thinks that's a reason to shut down the government, I crank out this mp3 on my Default mp3 Player (Winamp).

Suddenly, from thousands of miles away, Europe is instantly restored to everything I love about every day I have spent there, Europe is a wonderful, delicious, immensely interesting, rich, sweepingly beautiful, exciting place. I just listen to this song 16 or 19 times real loud, and I am back in Europe again, or planning which gas stations and convenience stores I will rob this week so I can afford to go back to Europe as soon as possible. (I wear a Zorro mask so people will not realize I am really Tyrone Power.)

I will not rob the convenience store near my favorite Chinese restaurant. Yesterday when I went to pick up dinner (Hunan Shredded Chicken and Shrimp Curry) I stopped into the convenience store. My mind was all wrapped up in my purchases and the details of my transaction. (Well, I was looking at all my quarters to make sure I didn't give away any of the New Hampshire Old Man of the Mountain quarters. I also really like the New Jersey quarters, they have teenagers driving stolen cars while police cars chase them -- it's really a magnificent coin design.)

Todd behind the counter, maybe he was 20 years old, said:

"I been there."

I was confused and looked up. Todd was smiling. And pointing to my t-shirt. So I looked down at my chest. My t-shirt said:

THE BULLDOG * AMSTERDAM

It is possible to have This Much Fun in the United States of America, but expect cops. In Amsterdam, the cop says: "Oh yes, the Bulldog, go two blocks that way, it's on the right. You can't miss it."

Amsterdam is in Europe.

So, most of the time I think, is Manu Chau. Here's his song that wafts me back to Europe, to the slow trains, to the ICE and the TGV, to the reeking pickled herring, the sausage, the bus terminal at Leiden where you catch the bus for the SPINOZALAAN stop in Rijnsburg , Berliner Zoostation (GREAT WURST 24/7!!!), Ajax, Calais, the North Sea and Baltic ferries, Hven, Dwingeloo, Telgt, Helsinki and Andy McCoy, the Edelweisspiraten (some survived and now they look just like my Uncle Harvey!) ......................

You want this song? e-mail me for it, it's yours for the asking. The tune is as lovely and charming as the words, the tune is as lovely and charming as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Tuchaslieder. The only other things I know which give me such a Dependably Happy Rush are (as Woody said) Against The Law.

Down below Manu's wonderful version, I have stolen another version, some new original verses from a Portuguese blog.

OH NO THIS SONG IS IN SPANISH AND ITALIAN AND PORTUGUESE AND GERMAN AND I DID SO CRAPPY WHEN I TOOK FRENCH MADAME TUCKER GAVE ME A D AND I WON'T BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND ANYTHING ...

Ya think?

{ [ ( o ) ] }

Me Gustas Tú
Manu Chau

Me gustan los aviones, me gustas tú
me gusta viajar, me gustas tú
me gusta la mañana, me gustas tú
me gusta el viento, me gustas tú
me gusta soñar, me gustas tú
me gusta la mar, me gustas tú
que voy a hacer - je ne sais pas
que voy a hacer - je ne sais plus
que voy a hacer - je suis perdu
que horas son, mi corazón

me gusta la moto, me gustas tú
me gusta correr, me gustas tú
me gusta la lluvia, me gustas tú
me gusta volver, me gustas tú
me gusta marihuana, me gustas tú
me gusta colombiana, me gustas tú
me gusta la montaña, me gustas tú
me gusta la noche, me gustas tú

que voy a hacer - je ne sais pas
que voy a hacer - je ne sais plus
que voy a hacer - je suis perdu
que horas son, mi corazón

me gusta la cena, me gustas tú
me gusta la vecina, me gustas tú
me gusta su cocina, me gustas tú
me gusta camelar, me gustas tú
me gusta la guitarra, me gustas tú
me gusta el regaee, me gustas tú

que voy a hacer - je ne sais pas
que voy a hacer - je ne sais plus
que voy a hacer - je suis perdu
que horas son, mi corazón

me gusta la canela, me gustas tú
me gusta el fuego, me gustas tú
me gusta menear, me gustas tú
me gusta la coruña, me gustas tú
me gusta malasaña, me gustas tú
me gusta la castaña, me gustas tú
me gusta guatemala, me gustas tú

que voy a hacer - je ne sais pas
que voy a hacer - je ne sais plus
que voy a hacer - je suis perdu
que horas son, mi corazón

{ [ ( o ) ] }

The following are NOT from Manu Chau's original.
This dude obviously loved "me gustas tu" so much, he was sad when it ended, so he made it last longer, and I think he did a wonderful job.

Oh ... PLEASE do not be shy about helping me out with who these people are, what these places and things are, they are Famous In Europe, but here in the boondocks of Norteamerica I wouldn't know who most of these people are or what these things and places are if they were sucking my toes. (I sucked a lawyer's toes once. Well, I didn't know she was a lawyer. And that was a long time ago. I was having trouble with my Judgment Center that week. Poor Impulse Control. Running with Scissors. Poor Citizenship Skills. I fell in with Bad Companions. It might have been a Devil-Related thing. I'm pretty sure my blood sugar was way out of control, and that often results in atypical behavior, you can Google that, I'm not making that up. Also I was Unsupervised, this was long before I got married. Also this happened in Greenwich Village real late at night. I don't go there Unsupervised any more. And these were artists and newspaper people. Be careful of them, they ... well, anyway, they are like Bohemians. Especially in Greenwich Village. The woman wasn't a lawyer yet. I heard a couple of years later that she gave up being an artist and went to Law School. Also I had a shitload of cash on me -- Bad Thing Unsupervised in New York City. Bad Idea. cf. VOYAGE AU BOUT DE LA NUIT par Louis-Ferdinand Celine, aussi "The Fatal Glass of Beer" par W. C. Fields. Aussi maybe the Satyricon by Petronius. It was one of those kinds of deals.)

{ [ ( o ) ] }

from http://adufe.weblog.com.pt/arquivo/2003/09/me_gusta_almodo.html

Me gusta Almodóvar

Me gusta Manu Chau
Me gusta James Stewart
Me gusta Hitchcock
Me gusta Agnès Jaoui
Me gusta Caetano
No me gusta la marijuana, coca ou heroína
Me gustas tu.

Me gusta Morelenbau
Me gusta Tindersticks
Me gusta Beach Boys
Me gusta Clã
Me gusta Laurie Anderson
No me gusta morrir
Me gusta mi mujer.

Me gusta la musica
Me gusta Sinatra
Me gusta Ella
Me gusta Nick Cave
Me gusta Neil Hannon
No me gusta el olvido
Me gustas tu.

Me gusta la ciencia
Me gusta la sinceridad
Me gusta el amor
Me gusta el debate
Me gusta sonrir
No me gusta sofrir
Me gustas tu.

Me gusta Lisboa
Me gusta São Miguel
Me gusta mi terra
Me gusta la mar
Me gusta la sierra
Me gusta la liberdad
Me gusta vivir.

Me gusta te amar
Me gusta la confission
Me gusta cocinar
Me gusta comer
Me gusta leer
No me gusta temer
Me gusta dormir.

Me gusta tanto más.
Me gusta la esperanza!