Conor Gets Serious

Conor - who has been writing one of my very favorite blogs for some time now - is back at the orphanage in Nepal. His posts have been extraordinarily sweet lately, with stories about and pictures of the kids who live there. This post, however, is much more serious (and rather out of character for Conor). If you're anything like me, the political situation in Nepal isn't something you can discuss with any authority. After reading this, you'll be a heck of a lot more informed - and sad.

Birthday Recap

My 34th birthday was full of new experiences (and some old ones).

On Friday night, Chris decided that I'd have a Jewish birthday - one that begins at sundown the night before the actual holiday - so we went out to a movie of my choosing: "Transamerica." I love Felicity Huffman, and I also love an underdog. It's because of Huffman that this odd little low-budget movie is getting the attention it is, including a nomination for Huffman for Best Actress in this year's Oscars. An amazing acting performance can elevate a good movie to greatness, and that's exactly what happens here. Huffman is simply perfect, and if she doesn't receive the little golden man, I'll be very sad.

Then on Saturday (my actual birthday), we had massages in the morning (my last one having been over a year ago, it was a welcome treat). I was apprehensive when my massage therapist said that he tends to do more deep-tissue work... I'm a wimp, as many of you already know, and the words "deep tissue" did nothing to relax me. It turned out he was great, and I would happily request him the next time. You know, next year sometime...

Instead of heading toward the highway after our massages, Chris confused me by snaking through odd little streets in NW Portland. I was just about to ask where the heck he was going when he pulled the car up to the curb in front of none other than Saint Cupcake. We'd both been wanting to try their wares, and were especially intent on supporting them since their recent break-in. We filled a box with sugary goodies (my "birthday cake"), and headed for home.


A boxful of cupcakes - enough to make anyone feel like a kid again.

For lunch, we met my mother and one of my brothers at a restaurant we'd been wanting to try - Ristorante Roma. The menu is simple, as is the food, and it's all inexpensive and tasty. We didn't try any desserts there this time, however, as we stopped next at Mio Gelato. As if kizmit actually existed (and as if I actually knew how to spell it), they had many of my favorite flavors on offer, including my very favorite, caramello. We also had hot chocolates, as the windy walk from Ristorante Roma had made us all a bit chilly.

Then it was just Chris and me again, and we slowly made our way toward our next stop - the Italian film ("La seconda notte di nozze," or "The Second Wedding Night") playing as part of the Portland International Film Festival. We read an Italian Vanity Fair as we waited in line, and the theatre filled up in no time at all. It wasn't a terribly great movie - there were characters in it that I disliked so much that it made it hard to enjoy the rest of the film - but some of the scenes were really quite funny. And any Italian film is a good thing, as it helps our language skills.

After the movie, we drove to our final destination - dinner at Park Kitchen. We'd heard good things about it, but had never been before. Since we arrived a tad early, we got situated at the bar and I ordered a cocktail while we waited. When we got seated, it became quickly apparent why they're going to be expanding into the space next door - there's hardly any space for diners! We had a fabulous dinner (which I completely forgot to photograph, as the cocktail had me loopy even before the first course arrived) - the highlights were the chick pea fries and pumpkin "ketchup" appetizer, the rabbit entree, and the apple butter crepes with caramel ice cream for dessert. Yum, yum, and yum. We'll definitely be back.

So, it was a very full day - I was pretty much ready to hit the pillow at 10pm, but refused to go to bed until after 11:30 just to prove to myself that I'm not that old. At least not yet.

Costas on Bode

Last night, NBC aired an interview with Bode Miller (conducted by Tom Brokaw), since Miller completely failed to live up to expectations. If they had been expectations placed on him by others which he had tried to downplay, his medal-less Games might have been more easily explained. But his persona isn't like that. He's the one who's been telling everyone how great he is. Now that he's going home without any podium finishes whatsoever, he's trying to say it's no big deal. Chris and I are no fans of Miller's, so we were pleased when, after the Brokaw interview piece, Bob Costas did a smidgen of editorializing on the subject. We were recording the broadcast, so Chris transcribed it this morning.

So, Bode Miller making some valid points and sounding a bit humbled after his Olympics end without a single medal. Still, while it’s corrosive to look at sports in general – and the Olympics in particular – as simply a question of wins and losses as if there is no value in second place or in just competing honorably and well, Miller has set himself up for much of this.

He claims to disdain attention and commercialism and hype, yet made himself available for the covers of Time and Newsweek and for 60 Minutes and for the JoinBode.com campaign which invites you to go to the effort to find out that Bode doesn’t care so much. Well, Miller will now find out, no matter how he looks at it, if you don’t care enough to consistently give your best and at least sometimes do your best then pretty soon no one else will care either.

Go, Bob, go.

It's All (Well, Mostly) About the Americans

I'm thrilled to bits that so many of the world's top cyclists have made the trek to the States for the inaugural Tour of California, and yet I'm also quite happy that so many American cyclists are making their presence known.

Yesterday, the Discovery Team's George Hincapie got his second sprint-finish victory of the week, with Team Phonak's Floyd Landis retaining his overall lead. With no further hills or individual time trials left in the race, it's unlikely that anyone will be able to unseat him...

...And today made Landis' eventual victory even more certain. It was another bunch sprint (the largest group at the line thus far this week), which T-Mobile's Olaf Pollack grabbing the win. The top five overall didn't change over the past two days, and I doubt it will in tomorrow's final stage, either.

The crowds alongside the roads for this Tour have been fabulous; there are times you could look at a still shot of the race and think it was a stage of the Tour de France. It's exciting to think cycling has - for the week at least - captured the imagination of many an American sports fan. I would certainly love to head to California next year to chase the tour around... So let's hope the enthusiasm continues.

10:14am

On this very day, at this very moment, 34 years ago, I was born.

Happy Birthday to Me!

A Lovely Ride Down Highway 1

Yesterday's stage in the Tour of California had the announcers nearly drooling into their microphones over the incredible scenery - the stage wound its way down Highway 1 with the Pacific Ocean in the background. There has been beautiful scenery pretty much every day so far this week, made even lovelier (according to this viewer) by the cyclists speeding through it. The cities along the route are advertising heavily during the coverage, as they should, and I hope it encourages other states to think of cycling as a potential revenue source. Can I imagine a future three-week Tour of America? Not really. But it'd be fun to get these world-class riders over on these shores more often.

Despite a long-lived two-man breakaway, the sprinters' teams pulled everyone back together with only a few miles to go, and it was another sprint finish. Juan Jose Haedo of Team Toyota-United, who won Monday's stage one sprint, came out ahead of American sprinter "Fast" Freddy Rodriguez, who got second on the day. The overall standings haven't changed, with Team Phonak's Floyd Landis still sitting in first, 29 seconds ahead of Team CSC's David Zabriskie and 34 seconds ahead of CSC's Bobby Julich. Today's stage should prove who's got the ability to win this thing, with its category 1 climb.

More From the American Progress Report

Starvation looms for tens of thousands of Zambians -- a humanitarian crisis that, unlike Darfur, could be prevented "without doing anything other than appropriating a lousy $8.5 million to buy some food for refugees."

Source: today's American Progress Report

Katrina: The Unlearned Lessons

From today's American Progress Report:

Yesterday, the White House released a 228-page report on the "lessons learned" from the response to Hurricane Katrina. Despite its length, the report fails to address the most important issues. According to the New York Times, it "reads more like a recitation of history, than a critical overview of what went wrong with the response. Other times, the report appears to be attempting to offer rationales for mistakes -- like the failure to recognize on the day the storm hit that major sections of the levees in New Orleans had been breached -- instead of explaining exactly why they occurred." The whole White House effort stands in sharp contrast to more critical non-partisan reports from the House of Representatives and the Government Accountability Office (GAO), as well as the priorities outlined in the President's budget.

NO PAIN, NO GAIN: Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff described writing the report as "deep, difficult and even painful." Homeland Security officials "have engaged in their own soul searching" during the process, he said. But yesterday's report "takes pains not to cast blame," and the report goes on for 228 pages "without singling out any individual for blame." While a close examination of the structural problems at Homeland Security and FEMA are necessary, Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) points out, "Only a full understanding of what went wrong and who was responsible will enable us to correct our path for the future." Chertoff, who was singled out by the House and given "principle blame" by the GAO, gets off with barely a scratch from the White House report. In fact, Homeland Security Adviser Frances Townsend went out of her way to say Chertoff still "enjoys the confidence of the President" and remains a "tremendous partner." Townsend also defended Bush's leadership. "Those of us in government must take the lead," she said, "and President Bush made clear he is doing just that." Both the House and GAO reports found Bush did not properly take the lead during Katrina. The House report found Bush "could have spurred a faster response," and the GAO Comptroller said designating a point-person during the disaster was "up to the President of the United States."

SHOW US THE MONEY: "We need to work with our state and local partners about preparing America's communities," Townsend said yesterday. The working relationship got off to a rocky start earlier this year when President Bush's budget cut "funds for state and local programs by nearly 10 percent." State and local companies are also being shortchanged in the critically important debris removal process thanks to mismanagement by the federal government. The budget also slashed first responder programs, including a 45 percent cut in federal firefighter assistance. The New Orleans levees remain dangerously underfunded, and the administration's promise to "make sure that the levees in New Orleans were stronger and better than before Katrina hit" has rung hollow. "A 34 percent cut on the construction budget for the Army Corps of Engineers" and a 13 percent cut to flood prevention will make rebuilding the levees more difficult. Meanwhile, "widespread armoring of levees and floodwalls likely won't get started until 2007," and "work hasn't been scheduled and can't possibly come in time for this year's storm season."

FURTHER STRETCHING THE NATIONAL GUARD: One of the report's main recommendations is to give America's reserve forces a more active role in national emergencies. "Reserve components historically have focused on military and war fighting missions, which will continue," the report says. "However, we should recognize that the Reserve components are too valuable a skilled and available resource at home not to be ready to incorporate them in any Federal response planning and effort." U.S. law already defines this is as one of their duties. Title 10, Section 10102 of the U.S. code says "the purpose of each reserve component is to provide trained units and qualified persons available for active duty in the armed forces, in time of war or national emergency." In fact, the rapid deployment of the National Guard to the Gulf Coast was one of the few bright spots in the federal disaster response. Yet the Guard remains stretched from long deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, where around 60,000 citizen soldiers are still stationed. The administration's budget dealt a setback to its goal of making "maximum use of the state National Guards" by cutting the National Guard "from its authorized level of 350,000 soldiers to 333,000, the actual number now on the rolls" because of recruitment problems. The authorized number of Army Reservists would also shrink from 205,000 to 188,000 under Bush's budget plan.

CAN THE PLAN? The White House report places blame on the National Response Plan, saying it "didn't measure up" and "came up short." Townsend said the administration would "rewrite the National Response Plan so it is workable and it is clear." While the plan is long and full of technical jargon, both the House and GAO criticized the plan's implementation rather than its substance. The House report took "Chertoff to task for waiting until two days after the storm hit to activate a national response plan." The GAO report said Chertoff waited too long declare Katrina an "incident of national significance" that would have triggered parts of the National Response Plan.

SHUFFLING CHAIRS ON A LEAKY SHIP OF STATE: Townsend correctly noted that bureaucratic "red tape" slowed the federal response, and a "better structure at the White House" is needed to make split-second decisions effectively. President Bush once said about homeland security, "We do not need rules and bureaucracy to entangle us in the job you want us to do." But the White House report would create another level of bureaucracy called the "Disaster Response Group." It is doubtful the group would stop the kind of infighting that occurred between Chertoff and Mike Brown. Former Homeland Security inspector general Kent Ervin took a dim view of the bureaucratic reshuffling. "There seems to be this tendency to reinvent the wheel and then reinvent it again," he said. "If you are going to have a Department of Homeland Security, then we need to figure out whatever is inhibiting its effectiveness and provide what it lacks, not simply parcel out responsibilities from various agencies where they came from."

Thoughts on Berlin

They're someone else's thoughts, but I agree with him. Does that count?

Our September 2005 trip to Germany was much more difficult - emotionally - than I'd anticipated. Running headlong into family history, even when you're prepared for it, isn't always easy. And yet the people we met in Germany are some of the nicest people we've ever met while traveling - we're still in touch with the couple we met in Munich, as well as four people we spent time with in Berlin. We'd love to go back, just to spend time with them. I think my hesitation about the country would be less the next time around, but I have no way of knowing for sure.

Next time I would like to go to the city where my father was born, I know that, and I also know that'll likely bring back some of the unease I felt last year - but it also feels like something I should do. Ordinarily, inserting the word "should" into a sentence is usually a sign of bad things to come, but in this case it doesn't bother me.

Chris is likely to be heading back to the trade show that took him to Berlin in the first place, and though we haven't decided yet if I'll be joining him on any of his trips this year, it's safe to say that we'll return to Germany at some future point. And maybe, since we've already done many of the touristy things, we can just focus on the highlight from our initial trip - the people.

Landis Kicks Ass

In today's individual time trial in the Tour of California, American David Zabriskie (who started the day in 5th place) looked like he was going to be impossible to beat.

It's widely acknowledged that he has the most aerodynamic form in the professional cycling peloton, and he counts among his victories the prologue time trial of the 2005 Tour de France. He's unassuming, almost shy, which only makes me cheer louder for him.

Zabriskie finished his time trial with the best time to that point, with only four riders left to come in behind him. And surprisingly, American Floyd Landis lobbed nearly 30 seconds off Zabriskie's time - despite Landis' odd aerodyamic position. It gave Landis not only the stage victory, but also the overall lead. Zabriskie trails him by 29 seconds in 2nd place. The challenge over the final four days will be for Landis' Team Phonak to defend his leader's jersey from Zabriskie's Team CSC. CSC's Bobby Julich is in 3rd overall, and it appears that they might be the more powerful team. Only time will tell.

Lawd knows I love Italy, but this scares me

Italian court: Not a virgin? Sex crimes aren't as serious
Mussolini's granddaughter slams all-male court after recent rulings

ROME, Italy (Reuters) -- Sexually abusing a teenager is less serious a crime if the girl is not a virgin, Italy's higher court said on Friday in a controversial ruling that immediately drew a barrage of criticism.

The court ruled in favor of a man in his forties, identified only as Marco T., who forced his 14-year old stepdaughter to have oral sex with him after she refused intercourse.

The man, who has been sentenced to three years and four months in jail, lodged an appeal arguing that the fact that his stepdaughter had had sex with men before should have been taken into consideration during his trial as a mitigating factor.

The supreme court agreed, saying that because of her previous sexual experiences, the victim's "personality, from a sexual point of view, is much more developed than what would be normally expected of a girl of her age".

"It is therefore fair to argue that (the damage for the victim) would be lower" if the abused girl was not a virgin, Italian news agencies quoted the court as saying.

This means the man could now be handed a lighter sentence.

News of the ruling immediately drew fire.

"I think we have gone back 50 years," said Maria Gabriella Carnieri Moscatelli, head of the Telefono Rosa association that helps sexually abused women.

"It is inconceivable that such a serious crime that ruins the life of a woman, irrespective of her age, might be considered in a different light depending on whether she is a virgin," she said.
Female politicians from across the political spectrum also strongly condemned the court's decision.

"This is a shameful, devastating ruling," said Alessandra Mussolini, grand-daughter of wartime fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. "The real problem is that there are no women in the supreme court."

Luana Zanella of the Greens opposition party called the court's arguments "abominable".

The supreme court is no stranger to controversial judgments.

In recent years it has ruled that "an isolated and impulsive" pat on a woman's buttocks at work did not constitute sexual harassment, and returned a verdict that a woman could not have been raped because she was wearing skin-tight jeans.

The Last Wispa Bar

When I was in the UK the fall semester of my junior year in college, I discovered what would become my favorite chocolate bar. And of course, it had to be something that wasn't (and still isn't) available in the States - Cadbury's Wispa Bar. It's hard to describe if you haven't actually tried one, but the subtitle on the wrapper (yes, the wrapper has a subtitle) is "Velvety Textured Milk Chocolate," and that's pretty darned close. I would only add that the texture they're talking about is a zillion tiny air bubbles throughout the entire bar, making it crumble in a fantastically delicious way in your mouth with every bite.

After I fell in love with the Wispa bar, I returned to the US and missed it terribly. I actually had friends in England mail them to me every so often. (This is back in the pre-Internet shopping age, mind you, and that was my low-tech version.) When Chris & I went to the UK in 2003 in order to get married in Scotland, Wispas weren't first on my mind... But they were a very close second. I bought a full box of them (about 60) at the London airport before we flew home - Chris just shook his head.

Well, folks, I have sad news to report. I ate the last bar on Friday. And yes, I shed a small, chocolatey tear. So - if there are any UK readers out there who want to make this simple girl very, very happy, I think you know what to do.

A New American Leader

Today's stage in the Tour of California ended with a win for a great American rider, who then also took the overall lead due to time bonuses.

George Hincapie, the only man to ride alongside Lance Armstrong to every one of Lance's seven victories, is the leader of the Discovery Team at this race and took victory today in San Jose. He took the lead from Team Gerolsteiner's Levi Leipheimer. Leipheimer was in a breakaway group after the last particularly hard climb, but the Discovery Team kept their heads together, stayed in a group and slowly and surely made their way back up to - and past - the leaders.

Hincapie only has a four-second lead over Leipheimer in the overall now, so he'll have to work hard to keep it. Conversely, the others in the top five (separated by only 13 seconds) will have to work hard to take it away.

Eight Hours of Italian Film

Over this past weekend, Chris and I watched "Il Postino" ("The Postman") (I'd seen in twice, Chris had never seen it) Saturday night and then - in a marathon movie-watching session broken up only twice for food and runs to the bathroom - my mom joined us for the six-hour long "La meglio gioventù" ("The Best of Youth") on Sunday. Though I'm still not dreaming in Italian, even after eight hours of Italian films, Chris and I exchanged many a glance during both movies when random vocabulary words, which our teacher has been drilling into our heads, came up in the dialogue. Oh, so you mean this stuff really is applicable? Wow...

"Il Postino," from 1994, is a wonderfully quiet and sweet movie about (ahem) a postman called Mario on a small southern Italian island when Chilean poet Pablo Neruda is exiled there. Neruda befriends Mario and teaches him to appreciate the poetry of everyday life (especially metaphors), and Mario begs for the poet's help in winning the heart of the local beauty, Beatrice. I know nothing about Neruda, including whether or not he was actually exiled on an Italian island, but the movie made me want to read his poetry... Or at least want to want to read it. I've not had much luck engaging with poetry, and am generally reluctant to read it in case I end up feeling like a dunce for not understanding it (more common than I'd like to admit, unfortunately).

At any rate, the movie is sweet, the southern Italian accents are soft around the edges, and the scenery is beautiful. One poignant postscript is that the actor who plays Mario, Massimo Troisi, had apparently suffered from heart problems his whole life and collapsed two weeks into making the movie - he needed a heart transplant. Troisi had been the driving force behind the film (co-writing, co-directing and starring in it), and kept working despite his ill health. He died of a heart attack the day after filming was complete.

"La meglio gioventù" originally aired on Italian television, so far as I can tell, which would explain the six-plus hour running time. It has, however, gone on to be played at film festivals around the world (usually over two nights) to glowing reviews. It's the story of two brothers, Nicola and Matteo, and the people in their lives, and it spans nearly 40 years (from 1966 through the early 21st century). After something early in the story goes rather unlike they'd planned, they deal with the repercussions in very different ways and take very different paths, though they continue to collide throughout the film. Nicola ends up becoming a psychiatrist after backpacking through Norway and some time with a radical Italian political group. Matteo joins the Italian army and eventually becomes a police officer. The backdrop is many of the major historical events in Italy, including the 1966 flood in Florence (and many others that would be familiar to anyone who knows Italian history - sadly, I'm not one of them), which serve the story as if history itself is a character.

The praise for this epic film is almost universally ecstatic. Several reviews mention two things we certainly found to be true - that you feel very much like you know the family by the end of the film (so much so that even after six hours we were sad to see it end), and that it doesn't feel anything like it's six hours long. For example, it takes almost two hours for you to really feel invested in the characters and the storyline, and yet that doesn't feel extraordinary at all. Just think about that for a moment - it takes the length of most complete films to really get to know the characters, and you're only one-third of the way through the thing! It sounds crazy, I know, but believe me - if you find this on your local video store's shelves, you won't be sorry if you pick it up. You might feel the need to run around the block afterwards, but that's your business.

(Incidentally, this Saturday, we're extending the Italian film run - we're going to see "The Second Wedding Night," which is part of this year's Portland International Film Festival.)

Update: I got some more information from my Italian friend Alessandro about "La meglio gioventù" - he says that it was "originally produced for TV, then refused to be aired on it, finally it was displayed around on festivals and cinemas. Only after the big success on cinemas it was aired on TV." Thanks, Ale!

World's Cycling Greats in U.S. Race

Lance Armstrong aside, most Americans know nothing more about the sport of cycling than the name of the sport's ultimate race - the Tour de France. Thanks in large part to Lance's popularity stateside, however, there are not only more Americans watching the sport's European races, there are also more races held on U.S. soil. A new such race began yesterday in California, the week-long stage race called the Tour of California, and brought with it some of the world's top names in cycling. It's exciting to see such great riders taking an American race seriously - they're not just showing up to use it as a training ride, many of them are actually looking in quite good shape.

After the brief prologue yesterday, there were five Americans in the top five spots - which bodes well for American fans of cycling now that Armstrong has retired - with Team Gerolstiener's Levi Leipheimer in the leader's jersey. (As a side note, some of you may remember my fascination with a certain Italian rider - he's actually in California this week, but only for training, though two of his American teammates were in the top five after Sunday.)

Today's stage one saw a rider on a brand new American team grab a victory, and the top five places overall remain in American hands. The cycling season has, at least in my mind, finally officially begun - and I'm quite happy about that.

Postscript: Some of you who read about cycling here last summer may also recall "Didi the Devil," who chases European races around with his crazy custom bike and his spandex devil's costume. I'm happy to report that some forward-thinking California parents are grooming their very own little devil - so at least until Didi decides to make the races over here, we'll have our own. Fantastic.

Windy Weekend Away

The weather here is just crazy at the moment; it's about 24 degrees outside, and with a 25 mile-per-hour wind going we've got a wind chill of something like 10 below. TEN BELOW! That's nuts for this area, just plain unheard of. We don't talk about a wind chill factor here - it's never an issue.

Living out here has turned me into a weather wimp - I'll be the first to admit it. I can clearly recall the years in New Hampshire when we'd have to walk to school even with 3+ feet of snow in the front yard and a wind chill factor below zero every day for months. Sure, we probably complained about the cold, but we bundled up and walked to school. Now, I can't even fathom the idea of a few inches of snow on the ground...

This crazy cold weather is only supposed to last for a couple of days, after which it'll get back to where it's supposed to be in February (40s and 50s). Until then, I plan to be annoyed by the stupid cold.

Tonight, Chris & I are meeting two other left-wing couples to have a drink and then see Al Franken speak - we're all looking forward to that, we just wish he hadn't brought his stupid Minnesota weather with him (see? That's me being annoyed). Then tomorrow Chris & I are going down to my mom's for a couple nights over this holiday weekend. The Internet is very slow at her in-the-middle-of-nowhere house, so I won't be posting again until Monday or so. I hope you all have a great weekend - stay warm, Oregonians. This madness will be over soon.

Frase Italiane

I'm loving the idiomatic expressions that have been coming up on this year's Italian phrase-a-day calendar. I have no idea whether they're actually commonly used, but they're fabulous. Here are some recent goodies:

• Loro hanno deciso su due piedi - literally translates to "they decided on two feet," but means "they decided on the spot."
• Michele ha la lingua lunga - literally translates to "Michael has a long tongue," but means "Michael talks too much."
• È innamorato cotto - literally translates to "he's in love, cooked," but means "he's madly in love."

Aren't those great? Now if I could only use them when I'm speaking Italian, I'd be very happy, indeed.

How I Wish I Had a Band Now (and Other Things From Around)

If for no other reason than this.

Yes, I like that band. And yes, it's a holdover from my teenage years. Wanna make somethin' of it? Hrmph... Maybe this will distract you...

• Food Dude has some new help over at the Portland Food & Drink site, and the new wine guy has written a great piece about wine descriptions. I once took a class in wine tasting, and I honestly thought the teacher was joking when he showed us a list of potential terms for what we were tasting... The one that caused me to stifle a giggle was "wet dog." Now, come on - what self-respecting wine-maker would actually strive for "wet dog" tasting wine?!? If I were a wine-maker (which I'm not, so I'm willing to admit I could be way off-base here) and someone told me my wine tasted like "wet dog," I think I'd pack it in and go back to my old job. Just a thought.
• Damn Interesting posted this article about the Chimera, which is pretty timely for anyone who follows the world of professional cycling - all three of you out there reading this, that is. At any rate, for that select (and, dare I say, enlightened?) audience, I offer this - Tyler Hamilton's last appeal against his two-year suspension (which was based on findings of blood doping in late 2004) was dismissed on February 10, 2006. I don't understand all the nuances of his defense, but one element of it was related to the Chimera phenomenon. Interesting, then, to read about it in a way that's completely removed from the Hamilton mess. (I'm still very saddened by the whole thing, really, as I genuinely thought Tyler was one of the good guys. I'm beginning to doubt whether any such "good guys" exist anymore.)
• ExtraMSG links to a story in the Seattle Times about the latest in-thing in Portland - tea!
• Otturatore posted this absolutely beautiful picture the other day, and I love it even if it makes me shiver.

Now will you stop giggling about the Bon Jovi thing? Please?

A New Orleans Reminder

Ken Foster has posted a few tidbits about life in The Big Easy at the moment, all of which I find disturbing and cause for grave concern. This comes on a day when the Director of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, is on Capitol Hill trying to pass the buck. My guess is the folks in New Orleans would love for someone to pass a few bucks their way.

Joey Cheek is My New Favorite Person

I wish I'd known about this guy before he won his gold medal so I could have cheered for him - loudly. As it is, I have to content myself with becoming a fan for what he did after he won.

From today's American Progress Report:

American long track speedskater Joey Cheek won the men's Olympic 500-meters gold medal and subsequently pledged to donate his winnings to Sudanese refugees who have fled genocide and are now living in Chad.

It's no small thing, and in an Olympics that's given a certain assholian skier waaay too much airtime, it's refreshing to know that there are still really good people out there competing for their country and then rising above it.

You can read more about the story here.

From Around

• The Food Dude posted a recap of what it's like to cook a meal at the James Beard House in New York (and also a bit of history about Mr. Beard himself, a Portland native) from the perspective of the fine folks at Andina.
• I love this post at Damn Interesting for the first sentence alone (though the rest is pretty fascinating, too). This post also has a great first sentence, and frankly the whole thing is espousing a fabulous idea.
• James Tata posts a tragic story of one more thing we've lost in New Orleans. Will that list ever end?
• Otturatore always posts beautiful pictures, but this one in particular made me smile today.
• Record Store Geek links to an article about the science of writing a hit song... Though I still hold the jaded belief that it's more about luck, chance and who you know than anything else.

Happy Heart Day

Happy Heart Day, everyone!

I U

A big hug to all my family and friends, everyone I care about, on this day and everyday.

Pop Culture Embedded in Pop Culture

In tonight's Gilmore Girls re-run, the girls are planning their summer backpacking trip through Europe and are using Rick Steves' "Europe Through the Backdoor" as one of their travel guides. Emily (that's the grandmother, for those of you having trouble keeping track) even read an excerpt from it. Then I remembered that in a couple episodes I saw late last year The Dandy Warhols were referenced - twice. I'm pretty sure The Dandys would be more amused by their appearance on The Gilmore Girls than Rick would, before being completely annoyed.

Food Porn

I make no claims that this is anything even close to a food blog, though I do like to post the occasional picture of my half-eaten lollipops. Over the weekend, Chris found an article in Food & Wine magazine that, while mainly discussing food blogs, talks about what makes a good blog - whether it's food-related or not, and he makes some very good points. Namely (and I'm quoting here):

1. First, a good blog needs to communicate passion, and a really good blog will make the reader feel passionate as well. This should be easy when the subject is food, but it does rule out cheese sandwiches. Listen up, bloggers: Nobody cares what you had for lunch today!
2. Second, there ought to be consequences—something should be at stake. The political bloggers have this part down; most of them write as if the fate of the republic hinged on what Arlen Specter said on Meet the Press. The stakes are not always as obvious in gastronomy, but they do exist.
3. Third, the blog should be timely, keeping current with news of the world it covers.
4. Finally, like any good piece of writing, a blog needs a sense of purpose. The author can't just curl up on the sofa like an overfed retriever and recollect his last bowl of kibble; he should strain forward like a terrier who's late for an appointment with a ham bone. Above all, the author should know how to complete the sentence "This blog is about___." That's why I admire Adam Kuban, whose blog Slice is about pizza and nothing but pizza. Kuban is always on guard against mission creep. "Sure, I'd love to rhapsodize about how great the new Battlestar Galactica is," he writes. "But I can't. I've gotta stay on message here. So until I see Admiral Adama chowing down on a slice between Cylon attacks...I can't go there."

While I don't think this little piece of Internet real estate is earth-shattering in any way, I also don't write about cheese sandwiches. So, there are some things to be thankful for, half-eaten lollipops aside.

A Bouncing Birthday

My nephew bouncing at me...

Yesterday was my nephew's 7th birthday, so we trekked down to a "bounce place" for the third year in a row. A good time was had by all, despite the fact that three kids ended up in tears and every single one of them went home in a sweaty sugar-rush. Or, I suppose perhaps that's why they had a good time... I don't know, I don't understand kids. Without photographic evidence to the contrary, I'd have a hard time believing I ever was one.

At any rate, why don't I let the pictures speak for themselves?


My mother's cake creation for this year was the surface of a planet from one of the new Star Wars movies, called Camino, I think. At any rate, it was a big hit with the kids. My nephew brought people one by one as they arrived to see the cake. I love to think about the memories he'll have of the cakes my mother's made for each of his birthdays.


(L) The interior of one of the bounce structures, with kids flying everywhere. (R) My nephew coming down the giant slide.


(L) More bouncing in the enclosed structure - that's my nephew in yellow in mid-air. (R) Oh, there were tears - this poor kid got some body part in the head just before cake-time. He was back in the saddle, bouncing again, not much later.


(L) Party-goers, between bounce-sessions, refuel for more bouncing energy. (R) My nephew opens some of his gifts (about 95% of which were Star Wars-related) with my mother looking on.


One of my nephew's gifts was a Yoda doll that talks when you squeeze its hand. My mother squealed, "Oh, Yoda's my favorite!" when he opened it. She had to hold the box to her ear to hear Yoda's wisdom (bounce places are very loud). My nephew might have to keep an eye on her around that doll, lest she make off with it when he's not paying attention.


Chris (L) and Brother Caleb (R) obviously love the bounce place.

My Reason to Watch the Olympics

I've never been much of a sports fan, so I've also never been much of an Olympics fan. But four years ago I paid attention to the Olympics of my own volition - it wasn't just "on in the background" while I was in the room - because an old family friend was competing.

Joe Pack was a friend of my youngest brother's when we lived in New Hampshire, and he went on to win silver in Salt Lake City. He's in Torino this year, and I'm watching again for that familiar smile. I might not care much about sports, or really understand Joe's particular discipline, but I'll be in the front row cheering him on. The front row of my living room, anyway.


Joe, mid-flight


Joe at the 2002 Salt Lake City games (all photos from the AP)

A Timeline in Pictures

Juan Cole has posted a brilliant timeline of the whole bogus-reports-of-yellowcake-in-Niger to outing-an-undercover-CIA-operative episode - with pictures. With yesterday's revelations that former Chief of Staff to the Vice President Scooter Libby was authorized to leak classified information, it's good to have this reminder of what the root of the matter really is - we were lied into a war. Outing an undercover CIA agent, while obviously dangerous and potentially life-threatening (not to mention highly illegal), is only the cherry on top of this disaster sundae.

Pub Quiz Virgins

Last night we accompanied a friend to a local pub quiz, as some of her regular teammates weren't going to be able to make it. We were both familiar with pub quizzes, but neither of us had ever participated in one. I've had a fantasy for quite awhile now to host a pub-quiz-ish night at the house, but just haven't gotten around to it. After last night, I'm more inclined to make it happen.

The theme last night (fairy tales) was something we knew essentially nothing about, and as we were just stand-ins for other people we didn't really "study" the subject, either. Still, not every question was theme-related, and so we were able to feel quite useful when answering some of them. After round one, we were in second place, and after all rounds we were actually in first. The bonus question went to the top five teams, and after including the bonus points we ended up in second overall. It was a bummer to lose only because of the bonus question, but we did end up splitting some of the money. We walked out thinking that was a great way to start our pub quiz experience - by leaving with more money than we had upon arrival!

I don't know if we'll make it a regular Thursday night excursion, as it's a quite smoky location and my evenings are already pretty booked up, but it was quite a bit of fun. Now, we'll see if I can get my act together to be a "quizmaster" in my own home.

We Have Grout!

The tile guys are speedy... They grouted our deck yesterday, and it's beautiful. The old tile looked vaguely pink (which is a color I've always been opposed to) and the grout looked like white bathroom grout. This tile is gorgeous (she says, since she picked it out), and the grout is a warm sandy color. The whole effect is lovely, and I can't wait to see it in the sunlight when the tents finally come off. Until then, the flash on the camera will have to suffice.


Pretty new tile, pretty new grout.

Bloglines Catching Up

If I was more organized, I'd post these as I saw them. But I'm not. So every so often, I have to do one of these...

• The Food Dude gives us a couple of links to Portland food maps, including a fabulous map of many of the downtown food carts.
• Thanks to the Carpetbagger, I know I'm not the only one who thinks "The Constant Gardener" got forgotten in this year's Oscar nominations.
• Juan Cole of Informed Comment tells us what the signs would be if the Bush administration really, honestly wanted to do something about what the President calls our "addiction to oil."
• A couple of blogs have posted thoughts (see here, here, here and here) on the recent violence stemming from the political caricatures of Mohammed which first appeared in a Danish newspaper. I'm still not sure I know how I feel about it, as the more I read the more complicated it gets. I hate it when that happens.
• James Tata has posted a couple things I liked recently: One was a review of a book I've been dying to read, and this post had a couple of gems, including a snippet from an essay about Jimmy Carter and a piece about what it's like to be a professional critic. I swear I'm not linking to his post in order to link back to my own. Really. Because what sense would that make?
• Ride My Handlebars has a great post - with pictures! - of a whimsical sidewalk find.
• I can't remember if I've called attention to she who eats before. If I haven't, it's a mistake. She's a great food writer in Tokyo who always manages to make me want to cook. (NOt that I do, of course, but I want to.) Be warned, however, the photos might just make you drool on your keyboard.
• Once again, I've got several William Bragg posts saved for you... This one about bells is simply a lovely sentiment, and this one about what men and women do online is interesting (if not surprising).

Deckwork

The look of our deck has been changing daily this week, so I haven't even had time to download the pictures to the computer until last night, let alone post them. Here's this week's progress, in one fell swoop...


Monday - The construction crew came in to remove the door leading onto the deck so they could build an indentation into the kitchen in which they reinserted the door. Why all this, you ask? The tile guys needed to be able to put water-deflecting stuff (yes, that's a technical term) underneath the door, and we still needed a door to be there. So, this was the solution. It looks very strange when you walk into the kitchen; it looks like the door is ajar. The cats are confused as well.


See? Confused cat...


Tuesday - The tile guys put down this first layer, the thing that goes under the tile. I think I've heard someone say it's called "Wonder Board," which just sounds like a superhero's building material to me. Whatever, as long as it lasts longer than the original construction.


Wednesday - Tile! Beautiful tile! It looks great. I think it has to set for a day, and then they'll come back and grout it. I'm really looking forward to the finished product - not to mention to being un-tented.

Mutiny in the Classroom

So, that might be a bit of an exaggeration... But for a moment, that's exactly what it felt like. And I thought Monday was bad!

I won't go over the whole night again, mostly because I'd prefer to not relive it, but I will say that I am incredibly proud of how I handled it. I didn't melt down, cry, protest, get angry, or any number of other things I felt. There was one student who clearly needed to vent, and so I let her. I then told the class that, for better or worse, I was also still learning as a teacher - and that I probably wouldn't do things the same way the next time. I'll certainly be taking a much closer look at the homework I assign from now on.

The issue tonight was different than Monday - in the Wednesday class, the issue is that the majority of the class is just learning a bit of Italian in order to travel to Italy. To them, conjugating verbs seems like an unnecessary annoyance. I completely understand that. And yet I can't help but feel like if all they want is a few travel phrases that they'd be better served by a phrasebook and a good pronunciation guide. But maybe that's just me.

I actually think the community would be well-served by a class for "Travel Italian," but I'm not interested in teaching it. Maybe someone will do it eventually. Until then, I'll keep trying to learn from my mistakes (plentiful as they are), and keep plugging along.

New Orleans Money Matters

The American Progress Report had another segment on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina today:

KATRINA
Money Talks

On Sept. 15, 2005, President Bush stood in New Orleans's Jackson Square and promised, "Throughout the area hit by the hurricane, we will do what it takes, we will stay as long as it takes, to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives." Bush also said, "Americans have every right to expect a more effective response in a time of emergency. When the federal government fails to meet such an obligation, I, as President, am responsible for the problem, and for the solution. ... This government will learn the lessons of Hurricane Katrina." A few months later, "only 161 words out of 5,361 in [Bush's State of the Union address] were devoted to the sinking of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina." "Moreover, the budget that Bush submitted to Congress on Monday reflects an administration with a questionable committment to reconstructing the region and destined to repeat its mistakes."

NO AID FOR KATRINA VICTIMS: The President's budget "offered no new aid for Hurricane Katrina victims." The administration indicated not to expect anything above what was previously announced "for at least a year." Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) questioned the administration's committment to relief: "This is going to be a marathon, and not a sprint. And any suggestion that that's it for a couple of years would be disastrous to the recovery."

ARMY CORP CONSTRUCTION BUDGET SLASHED: The economic revitalization of New Orleans depends on the construction of strong levees upon which businesses and residents can rely. Yet the President's budget calls for "a 34 percent cut on the construction budget for the Army Corps of Engineers, which designs and builds storm protection projects." The budget would completely cut off funding "for dozens of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects in Louisiana." Overall, flood prevention is cut by $75 million (13 percent). Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) said the funding cuts reflect "an administration that has still not learned from its dysfunctional response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the levee breaks that followed."

CRITICAL FUNDING FOR FIRST RESPONDERS CUT: The suffering created by last year's hurricane season underscored the need for a robust system of first responders to care for those caught in harm's way. Yet the President's budget cuts critical programs that support them. For example, the budget cuts an important program that provides federal assitance to firefighters by $244 million (45 percent). Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-MD), who protested the cuts, calls the federal program "a modest, proven investment that gets critical equipment directly into the hands of those on the front lines of our efforts to maintain the safety of our local communities."

LESS SUPPORT FOR SCHOOLS, HOUSING: The budget calls for substantial reductions in programs that could provide essential support for the victims of Katrina who need help rebuilding their lives. For example, Bush's budget "would cut 26% from a [housing] program aimed at the low-income elderly and known as Section 202, and half the funding for a [housing] program known as Section 811, which is for low-income people with disabilities." Many families are reluctant to return to the region because schools haven't reopened. Yet the President's budget would keep regular "Title 1 money for disadvantaged schools, the major financing device for Louisiana schools, flat at $12.7 billion."

EXISTING EFFORTS LEAVE NATION UNPREPARED: It's not as if existing efforts to rebuild the Gulf Coast and prepare for future disasters are going well. Last week, the non-partisan Government Accountability Office found "the government still lacks sufficient plans and training programs to prepare for catastrophic disasters like the Aug. 29 storm that devastated much of the Gulf Coast area." The Department of Homeland Security attacked the messanger, saying the GAO displayed "a significant misunderstanding of core aspects of the Katrina response."

You've Been Gilmored

Happy is the girl (me) who got a Gilmore Girls two-fer in today.

Happier still would she be if her life were penned by the same script-writers. Why is real life so inarticulate?

Good Night, And Good Luck

Saturday night we went to see "Good Night, And Good Luck," the Oscar-nominated film about Edward R. Murrow's on-air challenges of Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the early 1950s. We both enjoyed it quite a bit - there were a couple of Murrow monologues (which I can only imagine were taken verbatim from CBS transcripts) during which I nearly teared up - though I can't help but wonder if part of the movie's success has to do more with the timely nature of its message than the movie itself.

It's a very well-done movie, don't get me wrong - it's just that it's only a snapshot. The film runs barely an hour and a half (which seems incredibly short, especially by today's standards), and has essentially no character development. Even Murrow (brilliantly understated by David Strathairn) is more of an archetype than a real person with real depth. (Although I'm no Murrow expert, maybe he was an archetype?)

The film seems to rely upon the audience's general understanding of the McCarthy era to fill in the gaps in the story, and in that sense feels more like one chapter taken out of a biopic about Murrow than it does a stand-alone piece. For me, the McCarthy hearings are almost a mythical period in this country's history, so I'd be curious what someone who either lived through them or at least knows more about them thinks of the film. McCarthy is practically an actor in the film, as footage of him is woven in, and as the entire movie is done in black and white it is seamless. Director, co-writer and co-star George Clooney has clearly proved himself to be so much more than the hunky guy who played a doctor on TV.

Having said all of this, it's an important film - especially now - and I'm glad to see it getting all this recognition. We couldn't help but think (aloud) as we left the theatre, "Where is today's Murrow? We sure could use one right about now..."

As an aside, my favorite bit of script came very early on, when a CBS executive is telling Murrow that if he goes after McCarthy, the sponsors of his show will likely pull out. Murrow says he'll split the cost of the ad buy with his producer, Fred Friendly (Clooney), who isn't there to protest.

Murrow: "He just won't be able to buy Christmas presents for his kids this year."
CBS Exec: "He's Jewish."
Murrow: "Well, don't tell him that. He loves Christmas."

Minor Setback

Tonight's Italian class was, shall we say, less than wonderful. Last week they learned the three major verb conjugations, which I'll admit is a hefty load for one night. (In my defense, the book teaches them simultaneously - and they're similar enough that learning two and three isn't so terribly hard after learning one.) So, as we were going over the homework from last week, there were more than the usual number of people frustrated by the exercises. We got through them, and got through tonight's activities, but I felt badly for the students.

I know that there will always be some students who, in a non-credit class, don't do their homework or don't pay attention or don't study. I know that I can't teach to the slowest or the fastest student, that I have to aim somewhere in the middle. I know that, as a new teacher, I have to focus mainly on improving my own skills so that each class gets better. But as a perfectionist, I can't help but feel badly that my current students are, in a very real sense, guinea pigs as I learn. My goal from now on is going to be to minimize anything that might drive them to the point of frustration sooner than they might otherwise get there. (Because they're learning a new language, for pete's sake, they're going to be frustrated at some point.)

We'll see how this same week's review and lesson goes for my Wednesday class. I hope I feel less like I did a disservice to my students after that.

Sushi: Playing With Food

On Saturday we went to a friend's house for a demonstration in sushi making. Chris and I have made sushi at home before, and we've always had fun doing it - but it's something else entirely when there's sake involved. Also, it's a hard thing to do at home for just two or three, because you want variety - which means making at least a half-dozen different rolls, which is way too much for just two or three people. On Saturday, there was enough variety to keep everyone happy, enough eaters to leave virtually no leftovers, and enough food to ensure that no one went home with an empty stomach.


(L) Joni, Derek & Chris at their stations trying to decide what to put in their sushi rolls - the choices were many, so narrowing it down was the first challenge. (R) Brad (center) had trouble narrowing it down, so made a giant roll. The sushi teacher, Amy (left) and Brad's wife Angela (right) look on - everyone wondering whose mouth was big enough to eat that roll in one bite.

As a side note, it had never occurred to me that making sushi at home was something to be wary of until a friend suggested it late last week. I imagine there would be cause for concern if you were trying to buy fish at your local grocery chain and then trying to make sushi with it - but no one should do that. If you're making sushi at home, you have to buy sushi-grade fish - and there's no shortage of Asian markets in the Portland metro area, so there's no excuse for not being able to find it.


(L) Gil, Brad and Angela (who was very happy about something, clearly!) making their sushi, while the sushi assistant (whose name I didn't catch) looked on and provided pointers. (R) Chris finishing his first roll, which - in retrospect - I think was my favorite of the afternoon.


Chris cutting his sushi roll in the foreground, while in the background Tamarin made hers.

Teabag Tag

Almost as if in honor of this week's State of the Union speech, I get this teabag tag today:

No man can get rich in politics, unless he's a crook.
Harry S. Truman

The Week in Pictures

Chris went to a Blazer game this week... Without me. I had to teach, so he took our friend Glen. And they had amazing seats, courtesy of one of Chris' co-workers. The first picture below was taken without even zooming the camera...


Blazers v. Spurs

Our deck is currently under a little tent, and I'm told they'll begin tiling early next week. I'm excited to get to that point - the tile we chose is so pretty, it will be lovely in the sun. (If that orb-thing ever comes out again, that is.)


If only it were sunny, we could use it as a greenhouse...

I had lunch today with my friend Megan - we're both so busy we've set up a monthly lunch, and we always go to an old favorite restaurant from when we both worked nearby: Bai Tong on Macadam. It's quick and it's good - nothing earth-shattering, but I do love the Panang Curry. It's hot enough to make me tear up (I'm a spice wimp - I blame my Jewishness), but so sweet I can't stop eating. Today we also got thai iced teas, which are almost too pretty to drink. I said almost.


Lunchtime treat

New Orleans - Off the Radar

Today's American Progress Report has a lengthy bit about New Orleans, which reminded me of something I wrote to a friend late last year:

"I really am feeling a sense of mourning for the city, which is strange, seeing as how I was only there once for four days... I think it's the kind of place that either grabs you by the neck or it doesn't - you either love it immediately or don't like it much at all. I don't think there's a middle ground with New Orleans. Anyway, in my experience it not only grabbed me by the neck, it left scratches."

I desperately want to go back.

Here's the American Progress Report stuff from today:

Hurricane Katrina killed 1,307 people and caused more than $150 billion in damages to the Gulf Coast region. The storm was "one of the largest natural disasters in our nation's history and because of its size and strength, will have long standing effects for years to come." Yet President Bush devoted scant time to the issue in his State of the Union address, never uttering the word "Katrina." (He did find time to mention "human-animal hybrids.") "Did I miss something?" one Louisiana resident asked during the speech. Another wondered, "Didn't [Katrina] deserve more than 30 seconds of air time from our nation's president?" They weren't the only ones upset by the lack of attention. Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) said, "I was very disappointed at how small a part those national challenges - and I think they are national challenges - were given in the speech." The administration has yet to learn the lessons of Katrina; the federal government remains ill-prepared to protect its own citizens against disasters. Ignoring the problem won't make it go away.

GAO REPORT BLAMES LACK OF LEADERSHIP: The Government Accountability Office released a report yesterday saying "administration officials did not establish a clear chain of command for the domestic emergency" and failed to quickly "designate the storm as a catastrophic event." While news reports interpreted the report as placing "principal blame" on Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff, GAO Comptroller General David M. Walker said the decision to designate a point-person is "up to the president of the United States." "The director...of the National Hurricane Center said this was the big one," Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA) said, but at the time, "Bush is in Texas, Card is in Maine, the vice president is fly-fishing. I mean, who's in charge here?" The White House was dismissive of the report, labeling it "premature and unprofessional."

WHITE HOUSE STILL UNPREPARED: Unfortunately, no one knows when the next disaster will strike. The GAO found "the nation does not yet have the types of detailed plans needed" to deal with future catastrophic events. "Hurricane Katrina demonstrated the benefits of applying lessons learned from training exercises and experiences with actual hurricanes as well as the dangers of ignoring them." "We are left with a picture of a White House that was plagued by the fog of war," one House committee investigator said this weekend. "The committee is likely to find a disturbing inability by the White House to de-conflict and analyze information -- and that had consequences." To cut through the fog, the White House needs to know exactly where things went wrong. But their continued stonewalling of Congressional investigations may keep the problems unresolved.

RECONSTRUCTION BOGGED DOWN: "With no clear recovery plan in sight five months after Hurricane Katrina, many victims are simply hanging on, waiting anxiously for signs that their neighborhoods are either reviving or turning into permanent ghost towns," Reuters reports. According to the GAO, "Housing beyond short-term shelters also became -- and remains -- a major problem." FEMA Director David Paulison "took a stern tone" with Katrina victims, telling them they would soon need to leave hotels for trailers or other temporary housing. Only 3,129 of the 20,904 trailers requested are currently being used in New Orleans. "Trailers are not the only answer," Paulison rightly pointed out. "We need an alternative." Yet a permanent solution to the rebuilding problem remains elusive. The White House has rejected Rep. Richard Baker's (R-LA) bill -- embraced by the entire Louisiana delegation -- to use "federal financing to pay owners of flood-damaged property at least 60 percent of the equity in their homes and also would have paid off their mortgages." During last week's press conference, Bush seemed oblivious that the Baker plan existed, claiming "the plan for Louisiana hasn't come forward yet."

Why I Love the Internet

Where else would I be able to view such things as David Hasselhoff's video for "Hooked on a Feeling?" I mean, come on now - this is good stuff. (Thanks to the GFY crew for that link.)

The best news is that there are also some genuinely good things out there, too. For instance:

Juan Cole's got another top ten list - this time it's the Top Ten things Bush Won't Tell you About the State of the Nation.

otturatore posted such a beautiful picture of a flower on Monday that it actually brought me out of my usual Monday funk.

Ride My Handlebars posts a fabulous (if a bit graphic) quote about the state of immigration policy in the United States.

But really, the Hasselhoff thing just slays me. Is it wrong that I love it so? Oh, if it is, please don't tell me.