Where am I now?

As you can see, this blog hasn't gotten any love in many years... But you can now find me on my site jessicatravels.com.

31 March 2006

Funniest Bumper Sticker Ever

Driving home from work last week, I saw a bumper sticker on Boones Ferry Rd. not far from my house - and I'm completely not joking - which said:

VAGINAS
Are Way Cool!

Yes, well... Thanks, I guess.

30 March 2006

What the hell happened to March?!?

I came home from work yesterday and looked at the calendar to schedule something that I thought was happening in two weeks. Come to find out it's happening next week, because somehow while I wasn't looking a week was removed from the calendar. How in the hell can it almost be April already?!? I'm not ready for April. My Spring term begins on Monday, and I'm not ready. The good news is that I noticed it yesterday, Wednesday, so I can prep the rest of this week and over the weekend. But still. It's not nice going around and just swiping entire weeks from a girl when she really needs them, dammit.

29 March 2006

Survey Madness

So I'm sitting at home this evening minding my own business when the phone rings. It's a survey.

I'm not eating dinner, I'm not actually in the middle of anything, and, as someone who holds a sociology degree, I'm generally pre-programmed to answer surveys. (My favorite college professor actually told my graduating class that if she ever found out we'd turned down a survey, she'd personally come and revoke our degrees, since the chances were good that the person doing the survey was a struggling sociologist.) So, I say yes, I'll do the survey.

It's political, naturally, and most of the questions are easy to answer ("How would you rate George Bush's performance on the economy?"). I still think it was a poorly worded survey overall, and I mentioned that a couple times (in a vain attempt to get the person on the phone to tell the survey designers, which I know she won't). When she got to the part with the obligatory demographic questions, I was getting ready to settle back into my evening - when the stupidest questions of all arrived.

First, she asked what my religion was. That kind of came out of nowhere, but when I said I was an atheist she then asked how often I go to church. Now, really. Shouldn't people doing surveys have permission to fill in answers to questions that are blatantly obvious? I mean, unless there's some atheist church somewhere that I don't know about, the chances of me saying I'm an atheist and then saying I go to church even semi-regularly are - how shall I say? - nil.

Oh, but we're not through.

She asked, "Even though the Congressional elections aren't until November, are you more likely to vote for the Republican candidate or the Democratic candidate, Darlene Hooley?" (Hooley, FYI, is my district's current representative.) I muttered that there wasn't even a Republican candidate yet, as we haven't had our primaries yet, and frankly there's no guarantee that Hooley's even going to win her nomination (it's a good bet, but nothing's guaranteed), but said - reluctantly - that I'd probably vote for the Democratic candidate.

Then the surveyor said, "Even though you're not inclined to support a Republican candidate now, what are the chances you might support the Republican candidate in November?" And then she started reading off my choices - strong chance, some chance, little chance, or no chance. I couldn't stand it. I said, "I can't answer that question - there isn't even a Republican candidate yet." She paused and said, "Let me read you those choices again and you can tell me..." I interrupted and said, "No, seriously, I can't answer that question. There aren't any choices that work. The question is based on information we won't even have until, like, June." She finally let it go, though I'm sure she wrote something about a belligerent person on the phone.

What the hell? Who designed this damned survey? I get that both political parties are freaking out about the November elections, but seriously - how in the hell are we supposed to answer questions based on information that could only be gained if we had time machines and traveled a few months into the future?!? I'm horrified to think that people are just answering those questions without thinking - and even more horrified to think that the answers will be turned into statistics that someone will use to prove something, when the answers clearly prove nothing at all.

"Against All Enemies" Flags

When I read, I tend to have a highlighter handy to mark the passages or lines that catch my attention. Sometimes, if I'm really enjoying something, it'll be more highlighter-color (usually orange) than white paper. If I've borrowed a book, however, I'm reduced to sticky-flags on the pages I like. I've just finished reading "Against All Enemies" by Richard Clarke, which I got from the library, and I thought I'd take the opportunity to post the flagged bits here...

"This book ... is a first-person account, not an academic history. Others who were involved in some of these events will, no doubt, recall them differently. I do not say they are wrong, only that this account is what my memory reveals to me."
- I found this quote, given in the preface, particularly interesting given all the recent flap about the truth of certain memoirs - that Clarke takes the time to make this point in the beginning is, to me, the kind of thing that makes what he says seem more sincere.

"'Having been attacked by al Qaeda, for us now to go bombing Iraq in response would be like our invading Mexico after the Japanese attacked us at Pearl Harbor.'"
- Clarke says this in a conversation with Colin Powell.

Clarke excerpts a speech Pres. Bill Clinton gave in April 1996, where Clinton says the following: "Terrorism is the enemy of our generation, and we must prevail. ... But I want to make it clear to the American people that while we can defeat terrorists, it will be a long time before we defeat terrorism."

"...because the U.S. apparently believes in imposing its ideology through the violence of war, many in the Arab world wonder how the United States can criticize the fundamentalists who also seek to impose their ideology through violence."

"September 11 brought both tragedy all too painful and an opportunity unexpected. You could see it on the streets of Tehran, as tens of thousands rallied spontaneously to show their solidarity with America. You could see it on the streets of America, where flags sprouted from every house. There was an opportunity unite people around the world around a set of shared values: religious tolerance, diveristy, freedom and security. With globalism rushing upon us, such a restatement of basic beliefs ... was much needed. It did not happen. We squandered the opportunity."

Clarke wrote this book before the 2004 election, and says this: "Bush is telling fund-raisers, illogically, that he deserves money for his reelection because he is 'fighting the terrorists in Iraq so that we don't have to fight them in the streets of America.' He never points out that our being in Iraq does nothing to prevent terrorists from coming to America, but does divert funds from addressing our domestic vulnerabilities and does make terrorist recruitment easier. ... One shudders to think what additional errors he will make in the next four years to strengthen the al Qaeda follow-ons: attacking Syria or Iran, undermining the Saudi regime without a plan for a successor state?"

Clarke was one of the few people in the White House on September 11 who stayed in the building and directed the government's reaction to the attacks. Of the people who he counted as his main allies back then, none (including Clarke) are still working for the administration. He says: "They all left the Administration, frustrated. They were never formally thanked by the President, never recognied for what they did before or on September 11."

It's not the best-written book I've ever read, but it seems very sincere and I give Clarke huge points for being the only person after the September 11 tragedy to say the words, "I'm sorry" to the families of all those who died. I hear that this book is one of the best on the Iraq war, so that'll probably end up on my reading list in the not-so-distant future.

28 March 2006

New Orleans News

From today's American Progress Report:

CORPORATIONS FIGHTING TO SHUT DOWN NEW ORLEANS' FREE WIRELESS NETWORK:
Shortly after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans officials announced plans to provide free high-speed Internet access to homes and businesses "to help stimulate resettlement and relocation to the devastated city." BellSouth and other regional telecommunications firms fought the effort, but New Orleans developed the wireless network anyway. “Now it is the lifeblood for so many businesses,” says Greg Meffert, the city’s chief information officer, who "got downtown businesses back online by opening the city’s wireless mesh network—originally deployed to link surveillance cameras—to anyone who needed it." More than 15,000 people are now believed to use the network. But telecommunication lobbyists are still trying to shut it down, "and Mr. Meffert says it looks like the state legislature will agree." Meffert says he and Mayor Ray Nagin "plan to keep offering the service as long as they feel an emergency exists" whether it's legal or not. Says Meffert: "If I have to go to jail, I guess I will. ... [W]e simply cannot turn off these few lifelines we have to our city and businesses."

27 March 2006

The Week in Pictures

Just a few pictures from the past week or so; it was a busy week, and not all of it was documented - a cousin was in town from Minnesota, and I completely forgot to get a picture of us, doggonit! Ah, well, here are the pictures I do have.


Chris got a new bike, and it came in a big box... Which quickly became a cat toy. This is Bub's
paw reaching through one of the holes, in a vain attempt to grab his sister unawares.



Our Italian class had its final gathering this term at our teacher's house, and two of the students came prepared with a song - it was their final project in class, and a special treat for our teacher, as they performed a song by her favorite Italian crooner, Sergio Endrigo. When she first heard it in class, she swooned, and declared they had to do a repeat performance for her husband.



We went to the Blazers v. Spurs game on Friday night, and I'm pretty sure there were nearly as many Spurs fans in the Rose Garden as Blazers fans. I'll admit, I cheered more for the Spurs myself, but the Blazers were so incredibly bad that it would have been silly (not to mention delusional) to think they'd actually play better if I clapped for them. Honestly, the highlight of the evening (aside from seeing the very talented Spurs play some beautiful basketball) was the running commentary courtesy of the pair of five-year-old boys sitting behind us. In the first quarter, we were treated to repeated chants of "Boo, Black!" (the Spurs were wearing black) and "Go, Blazers!" Our favorite line, however, was, "We had to take a nap so we could have energy!" Their caretaker then made the mistake of buying them one of those bags of cotton candy that was nearly as tall as they were - you know, the stuff that's probably four days old but no kid seems to care - so we figured the constant kicking on the back of our seats would soon turn into magic fingers. One of the boys pulled his sweatshirt up over his head like a hood, and the other said, "That's so cool!" to which the first replied, "I'm sexy!" After the Blazer Dancers came out for one of their routines, one of the kids said, "Do you think they're sexy?" I don't know if the other replied - we were too busy convulsing with laughter to hear.


Another highlight was a new timeout/halftime feature, the giant helium-inflated basketballs. I can't really explain why they were so hysterical, except that the people inside them can put their legs anywhere - so they rolled around on all sides as the people inside just rotated. Yeah, see? Hard to explain. It was damned funny, though. Maybe next time I'll get a video.


Finally, I have to ask - what the hell is up with Robert Horry's socks? Or should I say support hose?

My "Boyfriend" Wins Criterium International

(A note before I begin - it's my husband who came up with the title of "boyfriend" for Ivan Basso, my favorite cyclist, though I don't protest.)

The two-day Criterium International finished up on Sunday, March 26 in France. This three-stage race, sometimes called the "mini Tour de France," is a little taste of everything. On Saturday was the flat stage. Then on Sunday morning was the hilly stage. On Sunday afternoon was the individual time trial. And the winner in the hilly stage - and the overall winner - was my man, Ivan Basso. He's looking great, and yellow looks particularly good on him. I can't wait to see him wear it in July.

I'll spare you the boring stage-by-stage details (you can read about them here, here and here), so I can use this space more wisely by posting links (below) to pictures of the man of the hour. He is fabulous, isn't he?

26 March 2006

Italian Radio Podcasts - Update

I forgot, I said I was going to try the podcasting thing this weekend and let you know how it went. Thankfully, Glen reminded me of my promises. You have Glen to thank for this post.

I tried doing it the way it said in the email I got, and I didn't get what I wanted. I did find tons of Italian podcasts, but not the RAI ones I wanted. Eventually I gave up and went to the main iTunes Music Store page and searched (under Podcasts) for "RAI." After scrolling through the countless podcast programs with the word "rain" in them (who knew there were so many?!), I finally found the ones I wanted. I've subscribed (all for free!) to four Italian podcasts, and I've already listened to parts of three of them. They're really interesting, and it's great to immerse the ear in the language.

In short, it's easy to find podcasts for any language you want, but if you don't find the specific one you're looking for, the "search" function is great. Here are the steps to get to the Italian ones - you can extrapolate for all other languages as you like:
  1. From the iTunes Music Store main page, select "Podcasts" from the "Choose Genre" drop-down menu.
  2. Click on the word "Browse" underneath the drop-down menu.
  3. You'll then get to a three-column screen - in the first column, the word "Podcasts" is already selected for you. In the second column, choose the word "International."
  4. In the third column, you can then select "Italian" - or whatever language you want.
  5. Choose the one you want from the list of podcasts below, and then "subscribe" to that one. They'll automatically update each time you log into iTunes and there's a new episode ready for downloading. It's a pretty cool thing, actually, and even cooler that it's free.

Out of Context? I Don't Think So

Ever since we got the whole computer setup thingie (yes, that's a technical term) hooked up to the television in our living room I've gotten into the habit of setting it to record programs I'd never watch otherwise. "Frontline," for instance - I now record it every single time it airs, and even though I might not be interested in the topic when I start watching it, by the end I'm fully educated and enthralled.

Not too long ago, a guest on "The Daily Show" was talking about her new biography of Abraham Lincoln. I've never had an interest in Lincoln before, but I've added that book to my reading queue at the library. And then I noticed the History channel was doing a three-hour bit on Lincoln, so of course I recorded it... Like, four months ago. And I finally got 'round to watching it yesterday.

It was fascinating, and I'm even more curious about reading that book now, but the thing I want to focus on here is that there were two quotes by Lincoln writers which seemed to be more about present-day politics than 19th century politics. One of them was absolutely a stab at the current administration, but the other one? I'm not so sure. You be the judge.

"A war against terror is like a war against dandruff - it's a metaphor - it's not about anything. The Civil War actually meant something." - Gore Vidal

"Mediocre presidents hide from bad news, great presidents reach out for it." - Matthew Pinsker

25 March 2006

Testing Netflix

We finally succumbed to peer pressure and signed up for a subscription to Netflix. We had a two-week free trial, and we liked it enough to keep going with it. We might cancel at some point (especially if we're both traveling and we won't be watching anything, unless we can figure out how to "pause" the thing), but for now we're enjoying it. It's actually getting us to watch movies more often - about one per weekend - than we were before, despite the fact that we always want to watch movies.

So far, we've seen only three:
  1. Walk the Line
  2. A Very Long Engagement
  3. Good Bye, Lenin!
We've got Broken Flowers sitting on the coffee table, and will probably watch it tonight. If you have any movie recommendations you think we should add to our queue, feel free to send them my way.

First Term Review

This past week I had my final classes of my first term of teaching, so now (while the laundry's going on a Saturday morning) seems like the perfect time to review it.

As you may recall, I started the first class with a serious case of the butterflies. In fact, I think butterflies might be too kind a word for what my stomach felt like that day before I walked into the classroom - wasps might be more like it. Either way, I had over-prepared for the class, which turned out to be a blessing - it went by in a flash and about halfway through I stopped being nervous. I walked out of that first class thinking, "I'm really going to enjoy this..."

Not that there weren't bumps along the way, of course. I was giving the students homework from a textbook I love (one that's no longer in print), and it turned out it was too difficult for them. So, midway through the term I started creating my own homework assignments based on that textbook - as well as the 10+ others I have on my shelves - and that turned out to work out just fine.

I also was too ambitious each week about what we'd be able to get through. Doing only a half of a chapter each week is so slow, I wanted the students to get more of the language. So I'd bring in handouts about things that weren't in the chapter, just to give them some additional vocabulary. That was fine, but I think it also gave short shrift to the material in the book. These non-credit classes are for people who have day jobs, and who are lucky if they find an extra hour a week outside class to study, so next time I think I'll spend more time on the book and less on the "extras," so as to give them a firmer base in the fundamentals.

The population at level one of any language in this kind of non-credit class is going to dwindle during the term, and both of my classes suffered heavy losses by about midway through. I didn't take that personally, as it happens to every teacher. And honestly, I was so pleased in one of my classes when a certain student who claimed to be struggling so much (and occasionally claimed to be unhappy with my teaching) kept showing up. That student stayed until the end of the term, and I considered that a not-so-minor victory.

So, I now have two weeks off before the start of the spring term. I have only one class in the spring (level one), so I don't have to do as much prep as I did before this last term. I'll have to do some tweaking of the program, as I mentioned, but I won't be starting from scratch, so that's nice. (And then in the summer I'll have two classes - a level one and a level two - so I hope I'll see some of my students again.) It's nice to have a lighter teaching load this term, as I settle into my new job, so I can really devote the necessary time to each.

Before I started teaching in January, I thought that I would end up liking it. I had no idea, however, how much I would like it. There's a part of teaching that reminds me of being "on stage," so it's somewhat akin to my rock n'roll days... I'll be the first to admit that there are times I really like the feeling of being on stage. Sometimes I don't mind being in the background - but other times I like being the center of attention. And you know, my students were a hell of a lot more attentive than some of the band's audiences! Yes, I think I'll keep enjoying this teaching gig for a good long while yet.

24 March 2006

Europe On An Alphabet

I cleaned the sidebar up a bit last week, and today I added a new blog over there - Europe On An Alphabet. This crazy girl is traveling around European cities in alphabetical order, letting people pick out of a hat the next place she's going to. Her first stop is in Germany, and she's on her way now to the "A" town there. You can read about the idea here.

Random 15

I was going to cut this off at ten, but the selection was so interesing (dare I say weird if it's my own music collection I'm talking about?) that I just let it keep going...

Happy Friday, everyone.
  1. The Whole is Equal to the Sum of its Parts – Ruby
  2. The Ladder – Paula Cole
  3. Swallow Baby – Ruby
  4. Dear Old Man of Mine – Linda Thompson
  5. Frontiers – Journey
  6. Late – Ben Folds
  7. All the Colours – The Finn Brothers
  8. The Very Thought of You – Natalie Cole
  9. I’m Not in Love – 10cc
  10. Kiss – Prince
  11. Why Don’t You Come Over – Garbage
  12. You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine – Michael Bublè
  13. I Won’t Stay Long – Sixpence None the Richer
  14. More Than Us – Travis
  15. Gattomato – Roberto Angelini

23 March 2006

Italian Radio Podcasts

My local Italian email list has informed me that RAI radio has podcasts available via iTunes. I haven't actually tested this set of directions yet, but here's what the email I got said:

On iTunes Podcast directory you can browse to "International" then to "Italian." The podcast from RAI is under "Public Radio" then "RadioRai Podcast."

I'm going to give it a shot this weekend; if I run into any problems, I'll let y'all know.

More New Orleans Tidbits

From yesterday's American Progress Report:

A New York Times study found most Katrina evacuees “have not found a permanent place to live, have depleted their savings and consider their life worse than before the hurricane.” The evacuees “believed that the rest of the nation, and politicians in Washington, have moved on.”

Black leaders, including Rev. Jesse Jackson, are touring Southern cities rallying opposition to the New Orleans voting plan for the mayoral election next month. They want the election postponed because Louisiana officials have not done enough to ensure that displaced voters will be able to vote.

22 March 2006

Last-Minute Meet-Ups with Site59

From my most recent issue of National Geographic Traveler:

"Looking for a last-minute getaway with a pal from out-of-town? Site59 has launched a new feature, Meet Me In..., enabling friends or family from two departure cities to get together in a common destination. The website syncs arrival and departure times, calculates total time spent together and finds a hotel within your price range."
- Emily King

World Adventures Are So Tempting

When I was in college and I did my semester abroad in the UK, all of my classmates took the opportunity of the break between terms in England to backpack around Europe. They’d all bought Eurail passes, and they headed off with their belongings strapped to their backs, intending to live as cheaply as possible (some planning to only sleep on overnight trains between destinations where they’d spend a whopping one day), and return to England after roughly twenty days with a passport full of stamps.

I on the other hand, was going to spend my time off with my European relatives in Paris and Zurich. I hadn’t bought a Eurail pass (it hadn’t even occurred to me), and I didn’t even have a backpack. I returned to England with only a couple of passport stamps, having been to only a couple of places, and having slept in the homes of family members. I wasn’t complaining, to be sure, and every once in awhile I look back on that experience and think, “That was my chance to be a backpacker, and I missed it.”

Not that anyone is too old to be a backpacker in reality, but in some ways I was probably always too old for it. I’ve often joked that I’ve been old and boring since I can remember (I think my brothers would back me up on this), so it’s not entirely out of the question. So I wasn’t interested in backpacking – does that make me any less interested in the kind of travel backpackers do? Nope. Now that I’m older, though, I’m a helluva lot less likely to strap a pack on my back and go traipsing through, well, anywhere, looking for a hostel.

That’s where BootsnAll World Adventures comes in.

Donovan Pacholl, BnA’s guru of adventure travel, describes World Adventures as travel for the backpacker who’s grown up a bit. And while I think that’s an apt description, the tours on offer are enticing even for those of us who never aspired to be backpackers in our youth. They’re tours in only the loosest sense of the word, Donovan says – you’re taking local buses, riding local trains, etc., there’s just a guide there to organize the tidbits many travelers are loathe to do themselves. More often than not, the tours also only have scheduled activities for half of each day, leaving the participants free to do what they’d like for the other half.

The other night I was showing Chris some of the new things I’d learned about BnA, and we found several tours listed on the World Adventures pages that got our attention. The ones that really got us thinking, though, were the last-minute deals. There are some amazing trips listed there, and if you book by a certain date they’re 20% off the listed price.

There are still plenty of places where I’d prefer to handle the arrangements myself (that’s half the fun of the trip, if you ask me), but there are others where I’d be happy to let someone else do all of that so I could just enjoy the experience. I don’t know what our next trip is, or where we’re even wanting to go, but perusing the World Adventures tours has certainly got me thinking more about the next stamps on my passport.

Full disclosure: BootsnAll World Adventures is part of the BootsnAll Travel Network, my new employer. As I learn more about the various resources in the Network, I’ll post information about them here.

21 March 2006

Eating, Italian Style

From the most recent Gourmet magazine comes this enticing tidbit:

Next time you're in Italy, skip the restaurant guides and sign up for dinner with an Italian family. Home Food is a countrywide network of women (and sometimes men), affectionately called "Cesarine," who invite diner into their kitchens for a taste of traditional dishes made with the best regional ingredients. Professor Egeria Di Nallo, head of political science at the University of Bologna, launched the organization two years ago with a handful of friends because she felt it was becoming increasingly difficult to find authentic Italian food in restaurants. Today, the group is almost 200 strong, with Cesarine from Turin to Sicily. "Home cooks hold the key to our Italian culinary heritage," says Di Nallo. "Our goal is to access that wisdom, keep it alive, and share it." All Cesarine must meet the home food's high level of culinary skills while also displaying thorough knowledge of regional traditions. A one-month membership ($4) lets travelers register for as many meals across the country as they'd like. Dinners range from a casual supper in a Roman apartment to a feast at a Renaissance palace in Siena. ($30-90)

Do this! Someone who's going to Italy soon - try this! And then come back and tell me all about it!!

Broadening My Horizons

Readers of this site will know that basically the only sport I get interested in enough to really pay attention is cycling. Sure, I’ll watch pretty much any sport on television, but that’s usually only because Chris is watching and I’m multi-tasking (otherwise known as napping). Imagine my surprise, then, when I found out about my new employer’s World Cup Blog – and discovered I actually like it.

Nevermind that I don’t understand all of what’s going on, or that I don’t know all the players (and by “players” I mean the people involved in the whole World Cup thing, including – but not limited to – the actual, well, players). The World Cup Blog, written with wit and humor by Bob Kellett, is colorful and inviting (these things are key to a sports neophyte, especially a female one), and offers plenty of information about the sport and the tournament, as well as travel tips for those making the trek.

Another cool element of the blog is evident when you first get to the site – at the top of the page, there’s a tiny flag representing each country in the tournament, each of which has its own blog page. Certainly, the big football powerhouses are represented well, but what makes this blog special is that each country has its space – including eight teams making their World Cup debut – even those who aren’t thought of as contenders. As Bob points out, you’d be hard-pressed to find information elsewhere on the web about, for instance, Saudi Arabia’s team. There's even a referees blog!

The only thing I wish were different - and this is coming from simply a laziness perspective - is that the tiny flags appeared on each page, so one could navigate between the team pages without having to go back to the main page. It's a small thing, but this lazy web-surfer noticed. Otherwise, the site is incredibly well-organized and thoughtfully laid out. It's one of the newer blogs in the BootsnAll Travel Network, and it looks great.

(As an aside, I've found out that Bob is also a cycling fan. The other day he said something about the World Cup being the biggest sporting event in the world, and I could have sworn I heard the same thing said about the Tour de France once. Statistics are evil things, so I'm sure - in some way - both statements are correct. It'd be interesting to know what the heck each statement was actually measuring, though.)

As the tournament gets closer, I’ll probably have to pick a team to root for (it’s a sports-mad office I’m working in). Maybe it’s because I’m a girl, but I love to cheer for the underdog. Italy, however, will probably end up winning my allegiance – regardless of how they might actually do in competition (my NCAA bracket this year is a testament to how little I actually care about a team’s chances before I decide whether to pick them) – because, after all, they’re Italian.

Full disclosure: World Cup Blog is part of the BootsnAll Travel Network, my new employer. As I learn more about the various resources in the Network, I’ll post information about them here.

20 March 2006

Travel Guide to Bali: BaliBlog

I’ve never been to Bali. Until recently, I wasn’t even sure where it was on the globe. (World geography isn’t as much of a strong point as it should be.) If, however, I’d been there or was going to go there anytime soon, BaliBlog would be high on my reading list.

There are tools on BaliBlog that every traveler needs – a well-populated accommodations guide being principal among them – but it’s much more than just a hotel guide. BootsnAll’s man-on-the-ground, Nick O’Neill, who has lived in Bali since 2003, updates the site daily with information about not just surfing Bali, but also living there. BaliBlog is the best of what a travel blog can be – it’s constantly updated (so therefore up-to-date), and can cover more than just travel tips. It gives you a sense of what it’s like to live there, because Nick does live there. There’s information on Bali going back to December 2002, so there’s no shortage of detail. You can read practical information (what to pack when going to Bali), political updates as well as stories about local ceremonies.

Going to Bali? Go here first.

Full disclosure: BaliBlog is part of the BootsnAll Travel Network, my new employer. As I learn more about the various resources in the Network, I’ll post information about them here.

19 March 2006

Googlism: Who Am I?

This is a great tool for anyone with an identity crisis - let Googlism tell you who you are.

If I get really specific, I get this: "jessica spiegel is the senior executive editor of the boston college international and comparative law review" - which is odd, because I haven't been to Boston since I was, like, 14.

If I get a bit more general, I get significantly more results.

Either way, it's good silly fun.

18 March 2006

Milano-Sanremo: Pozzato's Blond Ambition Pays Off

In Italy, it’s always a good day of bike racing when an Italian wins an Italian race. Last year, Alessandro Petacchi treated the tifosi to a spectacular sprint finish in Milano-Sanremo (complete with uncontrollable tears of joy). He was hoping to be able to do it again this year, even though current World Champion Tom Boonen (Team Quick.Step) and Boonen’s teammate Paolo Bettini were both looking like they’d be good challengers. In the end, however, it was yet another Quick.Step rider, Italian Filippo Pozzato, who claimed victory.

Before the race, Pozzato was proudly showing off his new bike seat, which sported a picture of a “blond angel.” Clearly, he had wings today – and not just on the saddle.

After only 27km of the 294km race, an eight-man breakaway managed to get away – and after 140km, the break still had an eight minute lead on the peloton. The team of Petacchi (Team Milram) was doing the bulk of the hard work to bridge the gap – so much so that when the group was all back together again, Petacchi was left with very few teammates to help him in the final stretch to the finish line. Pozzato got himself into a three-man break just before the final climb (the famous Poggio) with just over 5km to go in the race. He pulled away with 350 meters to go – and just didn’t stop. Petacchi managed to cut Pozzato’s lead from 10 meters to one bike length by the finish line, so if the finish had been but a bit further down the road (and had his team not been so thoroughly cooked already) “Ale-Jet” might have had a repeat victory. This picture cracks me up – it looks like three victory salutes, but it’s really (from left to right): Boonen cheering for Pozzato, Petacchi about ready to put his hands over his face in frustration, and Pozzato being elated that he’s won.

But today was all about Pozzato, and his teammates Bettini and Boonen who seemed just as happy for him as if they’d won the race themselves. Former Milano-Sanremo winner and World Champion “Super” Mario Cipollini, looking as stylish as he ever did on the bike, was on hand to deliver the winner’s trophy to Pozzato, and seemed pleased to be seeing new Italian faces on the winner’s podium.

As an aside, Boonen seems like a genuinely good guy – which only feeds into his image as a heartthrob among female fans. Oh, and his claim during last year’s Tour de France that he was abstaining from sex in order to put all his power into his riding probably didn’t hurt, either. I can only imagine the girls who lined up to greet him when he was done with the Tour…

I’ll leave you with a few pictures from today’s race – if you can look at these and not come away believing that this is, indeed, a beautiful sport, then you’re not paying attention. Enjoy.

Emptying My Bloglines Queue

Once again, they’ve stacked up over there at Bloglines HQ, so I’m clearin’ ‘em out all at once. Enjoy…
  • The Food Dude waxes poetic about Sahagun, local chocolate shop extraordinaire. The pictures alone are making my mouth water. And then there's this delightful interview with the proprietress... If you haven't yet gotten your car keys with the intent to drive to Sahagun, you're crazy.

  • This little construction project at the Grand Canyon has me completely freaked out just looking at it… Good lord I don’t ever want to actually be on it! (Thanks, Damn Interesting, for making me gasp aloud…)

  • Grey Duck muses on self deprecation, and comes to some really reasonable conclusions, I think.

  • Juan Cole lists several passages on peace and love in the Quran, reminding us that Islam is not a religion of violence. Every religion has its wacko extremists (Pat Robertson, anyone?), and thinking that the members of Al Qaeda speak for all of Islam is a dangerous assumption to make.

  • James Tata posted a couple things… I thought this was beautiful, and this was interesting. Regarding the latter, I’ve never been a Miles Davis fan (despite calling myself a jazz lover), but I absolutely respect his place in the world of music. What made me smile most about the post, though, was the bit about kids not wanting their food to touch… I have no recollection of having any hang-ups about food touching other food on my plate. Perhaps it’s a mental block and I should seek counseling?

  • The Portland Blog reminds us that what we say out here in cyberspace really can be read by anyone… Though I think Reed went way too far.

  • She Who Eats makes me so hungry with these pictures from Australia.

  • William Bragg runs the gamut here, from desperately sad to hysterically funny. (The latter is especially so if you Google the name of the company and check out their website. Yowza!)

  • Jen Leo at The Written Road has found a Literature Map – it’s sort of an interesting way to find out about other authors you might like, based on the ones you already do.
And with that, my friends, my Bloglines page is no longer a garbled mess of saved posts. I bid you good day...

17 March 2006

Friday Mix-Up

I haven't done this in awhile, and I got a ton of new music for Christmas and my birthday. So, today's random ten are as follows:
  1. The Killers - Mr. Brightside
  2. Diana Krall - I'm An Errand Girl For Rhythm
  3. Joan Osborne - Right Hand Man
  4. Jamie Cullum - Singin' In The Rain
  5. Jason Mraz - Tonight, Not Again
  6. Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head (Live)
  7. Garbage - My Lover's Box
  8. Robert Angelini - Gattomatto
  9. Garbage - Run Baby Run
  10. Ben Folds - Carrying Cathy
Oddly, the only bit of new-ish music that got included in this mix is the first one (though I'd downloaded it from iTunes last year, I finally got a copy of the whole CD last weekend). And I had to chuckle at #8 - it's an Italian song, and I have no idea what it's about, but the title means (essentially) "Crazy Cat." Yeah, and we've got three of those. How apropos.

New Orleans Election Plan

From today's American Progress Report:

The Justice Department has approved an election plan for New Orleans that includes no arrangements for balloting in states such as Texas, Mississippi and Georgia, "where many evacuees are dispersed."

16 March 2006

Le Frase Idiomatiche

We played catch-up last night with our Italian Phrase-a-Day calendar (we were about a week behind), and two idiomatic expressions came up that were pretty cute:

"Andiamo al dunque" means literally "Let's go to the therefore" - but it functions as "Get to the point."

...and...

"Non ha sale in zucca" means literally "He has no salt in his noggin" - but functions as "He doesn't have any common sense."

I love learning languages.

Katrina Update

From today's American Progress Report:

KATRINA -- INVESTIGATIONS CONTINUE TO FIND FAULT WITH ADMINISTRATION'S FAILED RESPONSE: Today, the House Katrina panel will release an addendum to its Feb. 15 report, "A Failure of Initiative." The report criticizes former FEMA Director Michael Brown and "refocuses an unflattering spotlight on the former Bush political loyalist and on the White House." According to the report, Brown "deliberately ignored a new national disaster plan and circumvented his boss, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, in trying to manage the federal response to Hurricane Katrina directly with the White House." By ignoring the National Response Plan, Brown "deprived 'the nation of an opportunity to determine whether the NRP worked.'" Additionally, the report found that "Brown's communications with the White House . . . raise serious questions about when and how the White House becomes involved in disaster response." On the Senate side, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) refused Sen. Joe Lieberman's (D-CT) request to "subpoena documents and testimony from Bush aides." Lieberman said that a lack of White House cooperation left the committee "unable to obtain any real sense of what the White House did or didn't do to run or aid the federal response to Katrina."

Happy First Birthday, Andiamo!

Today is the one-year anniversary of the start of this blog. It's seen so much in such a short amount of time, it's hard to believe it's only been a year! Together we visited places around the great state of Oregon and went to Germany and the Czech Republic... We wrote about mainly silly, trivial things, but sometimes interesting, important and enlightening things (the latter were usually quotes from elsewhere - we're good, but we're not that good)... We started two new jobs, both of which have been very good experiences thus far... We've gotten back in touch with old long-lost friends... We learned a bit about writing, a bit about blogging, and a bit about ourselves.

Okay, if that last sentiment sounded cheesy, that's because it is. The truth is that I started this blog on a lark, and never expected to (a) stick with it, or (b) enjoy it nearly as much as I do. I don't pretend that I'm writing into anything but the ether, and the fact that anyone is reading makes me unreasonably happy. So, for all of you out there, thanks for, well, being there. Let's just see what the next year brings, shall we?

15 March 2006

Bodies Found in Iraq

This has been in the news for a couple of days now, but Juan Cole at Informed Comment posted what, to me, is the most horrifying bit of information thus far:

"Some 80 bodies have been found in Baghdad and environs since Monday. On Tuesday alone, police discovered 46 bodies around the capital. They appear mostly to have been Sunni Arabs targeted by enraged Shiites attacked by the guerrillas during the past three weeks. Some were in the back of a minibus. Some were in a mass grave in Shiite East Baghdad. The latter were discovered when passers-by saw blood oozing out of the earth. Blood oozing out of the earth is a good metaphor for Iraq nowadays."

(Emphasis mine)

How to Travel for Free

In my quest to familiarize myself with my new place of employment, I stumbled across this article. I thought, "Wow, what a great resource! How handy that someone can tell me how to travel for free!" I ended up laughing, which is the next best thing (I suppose).

And unfortunately, as a married woman, the little trick detailed here doesn't work for me. Dammit, I wish I'd known about this when I was a single traveler! Ah, well - hopefully one of you can make ample use of this knowledge and then tell me all about it.

14 March 2006

Full Disclosure

I got me a new job, pardners.

Starting yesterday, I'm working for Portland-based BootsnAll Travel Network. My job is still being defined, but I'll be handling some administrative duties as well as managing the online community over here. In time, it looks like I'll also get to do some editing and writing as well. Those of you who know me will know this already, but for those who don't - this is pretty much as close to a dream job as I could imagine (as I long ago gave up the dream of being a rock star).

I'm at the start of a steep learning curve at BootsnAll HQ, and already on my first day I learned about a whole bunch of BnA resources that I hadn't been aware of before. As I get more settled into my new position, and as I find BnA resources I think might be useful, I'll post them here. I don't want this to be construed as advertising (hence the title of the post), and I'll always remind you that I'm working there when I'm talking about it. I've often said that I would suck at sales unless it was something I really believed in myself - I've told so many people how great Oregon is, for instance, that I've been asked if I work for the tourism bureau here. The bottom line, then, is that I really like the resource that is BootsnAll, and I'm excited to learn more about it and pass it along to you.

In the meantime, I highly recommend stopping in at BootsnAll for a look-see. They're a fine bunch of people over there... Wait, I guess I should say we are a fine bunch of people, huh? Gotta get used to that.

Tirreno-Adriatico: Petacchi Finally Nabs One

Italy's top sprinter, Alessandro Petacchi (Team Milram), grabbed a stage victory in today's final stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. His teammate, Germany's Erik Zabel (himself a good sprinter) led him out for the win. It's a great boost going into Petacchi's next target, Milano-Sanremo, this coming Sunday. No one threatened the lead of young Thomas Dekker today, either, so he has ended up with a fabulous victory in his burgeoning career.

13 March 2006

George, Have You No Mercy?

As if a girl needed another reason to fall all over herself when it comes to George Clooney (ahh, you thought I meant a different George, dintja?), there's this. And in this case, there's something there for the guys as well. (Aw, heck - there's probably something here for the guys, too...) He's just playing with our hearts, and we keep coming back for more.

Update 16 March: Apparently, Clooney's saying he didn't actually write the above-referenced piece at all... See the story here. Whoever wrote it, I like the words. It'd be nice to attribute it to the right person, though...

Tirreno-Adriatico: A Longer, Flatter Stage

Italian Leonardo Bertagnolli (Team Cofidis) snatched a great sprint victory in today's Tirreno-Adriactico stage ahead of Alessandro Petacchi, who says he's still coming into his form - if he hadn't proved himself umpteen times over in previous years, I'd say that was an excuse... But I'm still waiting for a repeat performance from Petacchi in Milano-Sanremo - that's the kind of reaction you want to see from a winner...

The stage itself was a change from the original plan - the last mountain climb that was originally scheduled still had too much snow to be passable, so the race organizers lengthened the route by 15km but eliminated the big climb. Current race leader Thomas Dekker isn't a great climber, so he benefited by the change - he kept the overall lead.

The ever-stylish and onetime peloton speed demon Mario Cipollini made an appearance today as well, looking as good as ever. And what would a cycling post from me be without a link to a picture of Ivan?

12 March 2006

Paris-Nice: Two Americans in a Row

Floyd Landis (Team Phonak) put a serious feather in his bike helmet today, becoming the second American (as well as the second in a row!) to win Paris-Nice. Despite a few category-one climbs in the final stage, there were no real challenges to Landis ascending the top podium spot in Nice this afternoon. Swiss rider Marcus Zberg (Team Gerolsteiner) took the stage win, on a day when I'm sure the peloton was glad to leave the cold behind and arrive in sunny Nice.

***

While the riders in Paris-Nice were enjoying the sun, the guys racing in Tirreno-Adriatico not only rode today's individual time trial in awful conditions - tomorrow's mountain stage was cancelled (they replaced it with a flat stage) due to inclement weather. I wonder how many of them wished they were in Nice today?

Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara (Team CSC - same team as Ivan) took the top spot on the stage today, and the leader's jersey transferred to the shoulders of Dutch rider Thomas Dekker (Team Rabobank).

11 March 2006

Photo Catching Up - Oscars to Banana Bread

I've been meaning to get these photos up here for awhile; so since Chris is watching the Pitt-Syracuse game at the moment, I've got some time... (You can blame any typos on me being startled by yelps from Chris if Pitt does something particularly good or bad.)

First, a few pictures from our Oscar Party last Sunday:


(L) Our contribution to the potluck, courtesy of Saint Cupcake. (R) Partygoers watching the show (there were two televisions set up, so two viewing areas).


Me with our friend's daughter, sporting a cowboy hat in a sort of homage to "Brokeback Mountain." Of course, she's five, so she didn't know it was an homage... Several of our friends brought their kids to the party, and in surveying the under-three-foot crowd I realized that our friends create some pretty adorable offspring. I like to think that reflects well on us.

And then some other random pictures from the last week:


Snow on Friday, March 10 as seen from my office window.


The "best banana bread" Chris has ever had, which I made on Friday night. I finally tried some this evening, and I have to concur - it's damned fine. And lest anyone think I had anything to do with making it good, the recipe came directly from this fabulous cookbook. You, too, can make the best banana bread ever.

Paris-Nice: Infighting Among the French Means Another Non-French Victory

French riders came in 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th on today's stage of Paris-Nice, but it was a rider from Kazakhstan, Andrey Kashechkin (Team Liberty Seguros), who took the victory. Two of the Frenchmen in the top five had not-so-nice things to say about each other afterwards... And they wonder why they're not winning? Floyd Landis is still in the lead, and it looks as if the first significant victory of his professional career is only a day away.

***

In the Tirreno-Adriatico, my mother-in-law's favorite cyclist, Norwegian Thor Hushovd (Team Credit Agricole) won today's stage - beating one of the fastest sprinters in the professional peloton, Italy's Alessandro Petacchi, by only a few inches. Spain's Oscar Freire maintains the overall lead going into tomorrow's individual time trial, but he isn't a time trialist - so it's not likely he'll be getting podium kisses on Sunday afternoon... Enjoy it while you can, Oscar!

10 March 2006

Paris-Nice: Still Not a Frenchman's Race

A Frenchman hasn’t won a stage in Paris-Nice since Laurent Jalabert did it in 2002 (he was also the last to win the race outright, in 1997). Today, David Moncoutié (Team Cofidis) thought he had a chance to change that today – but Spain’s Joaquin Rodriguez (Team Caisse d’Épargne) managed to outsmart Moncoutié tactically to take the stage win. Rodriguez’ plan – letting Moncoutié do all the work only to break away in the end – is one that some riders complain about, but that’s usually because they’re not the one who’s won. Every rider in the professional peloton knows this strategy, so the fact that Moncoutié was upset about the outcome is (to me) due more to the fact that he didn’t do it himself.

Floyd Landis was left without teammates on the final category-one climb, which could have been a bit scary, but Landis kept his cool and has kept the leader’s jersey on his back. With two days remaining in the race, it’s unlikely he’ll be giving it up – Saturday’s stage is hilly, but there aren’t any high mountains. On Sunday, the final day, there are three category-one climbs, so anything is possible… But Landis just looks like he’s on fire so far this season.

***

In other cycling news… After two fabulous stage wins in Tirreno-Adriatico, Italian Paolo Bettini (Team Quick.Step) crashed out of the race today. Team doctors said it didn’t appear that he’d broken anything, but with “major abrasions and bruising to his left hand and left hip, as well as right knee and right side of his chest” it’s uncertain whether he’ll compete in the upcoming Milano-Sanremo.

Last year’s winner, Spain’s Oscar Freire (Team Rabobank) took the sprint victory today (on a very cold stage!), and with it the overall lead.

09 March 2006

Paris-Nice: Boonen Makes it Three

It would be inaccurate to say that Belgian Tom Boonen is in rare form, because he seems to be in the same amazing form that he was in last year - there are just days that the man can't be stopped. Today's Paris-Nice stage was one of those days. He won the sprint finish after the main field recollected the two-man breakaway - despite his hesitation after he thought he had a broken chain. The stage was briefly interrupted by students protesting against job cuts in France, but the riders were quickly on their way again.

(Incidentally, protests stopping bike races in France isn't uncommon. As CyclingNews.com notes, one of France's legendary riders, Bernard Hinault - who won the Tour de France himself five times - used to "box" his way through such protests. Now that Hinault works for the race organizers, he's notably calmer.)

American Floyd Landis keeps the overall lead, and he and his Phonak team demonstrated today that they're perfectly capable of protecting it.

***

Following Boonen's "repeat performance" example, Italian Paolo Bettini makes it two in a row at the Tirreno-Adriatico today, with German Erik Zabel taking second for the second day. The sad news from the stage was that CSC's Stuart O'Grady, a great Aussie sprinter who always factors in the Tour de France, had a bad crash and broke five ribs and a collarbone.

08 March 2006

Americans Invade French Bike Races - Again

Lance Armstrong may have retired, but the French still have to worry about whether the American cyclists will let them win their own bike races.

In today's stage of Paris-Nice, American Floyd Landis (Team Phonak), fresh off a win at the inaugural Tour of California, broke away at a critical point - and stayed away. The stage win went to Spain's 'Patxi' Vila of Team Lampre with Landis right on his wheel to take second. Landis didn't contest Vila taking the stage, so I suspect that Landis knew he'd won an even more important victory. The two riders came in a minute and 16 seconds ahead of the next group, and Landis took the leader's jersey from Tom Boonen. He looks in great shape now to keep the lead all the way to Nice on Sunday.

***

In other cycling news, this author's favorite cyclist, Ivan Basso, is in an Italian race this week - Tirreno-Adriatico - which began today and runs through the 14th. Basso is undoubtedly using this race as part of his training schedule, to get himself ready for what he hopes will be two Grand Tour victories in one year - the Giro d'Italia in May, and the Tour de France in July. Italian Paolo Bettini of Team Quick.Step (who, for no reason I can put my finger on, just bugs me) took today's stage win. There are plenty of other sprinters in the race (including two I adore, Italy's Alessandro Petacchi and elder statesman Erik Zabel of Germany, both on the new Team Milram), so we'll see what the rest of the week brings.

07 March 2006

The Race to the Sun Begins

The cycling season is underway now, there’s no mistaking it - Paris-Nice (otherwise known as “the race to the sun”) began on Sunday. Last year’s winner, American Bobby Julich (Team CSC) - the first American to ever win Paris-Nice - started the race with a bang, winning the opening prologue outside Paris to go into Monday’s stage wearing the leader’s jersey. He squeaked out the victory, finishing one second ahead of Andrey Kashechkin of Team Liberty Seguros and two seconds ahead of 3rd place Aussie Bradley McGee. In fact, the top 18 riders were separated by a mere ten seconds after the prologue.

Stage one (Monday) was a flat stage, so if the pack could stay together it would be a day for the sprinters. And though there were breakaways, no one managed (or wanted) to stay away all day long – with six kilometers to go the gang was all together again, and the sprint went to Belgian Tom Boonen (Team Quick-Step). He’s one of the best sprinters in the professional peloton and he’s also this year’s World Champion. He’s fresh off a fabulous win at the Tour of Qatar, taking the top slot on an impressive five of the six stages there (as well as the overall win, of course). Clearly, the weight of having the rainbow jersey on his back this year isn’t keeping him from excelling like he always does. With the day’s win, Boonen also took over the overall lead from Julich, who slips to second (.07 back).

Stage two (Tuesday) was mostly flat, though there were a couple low-grade hills toward the end of the stage. Still, the pack was together enough at the finish that fast man on campus Tom Boonen managed to sprint to another victory in Belleville (as in "The Triplets of"). Boonen remains in the leader's jersey, increasing his lead to 17 seconds over Bobby Julich. Tomorrow's stage has the race's first category one climb toward the end of the day, so we'll see if Boonen can make it over the hill with the leaders and keep the yellow jersey on his back.

The Beginning of the End of Choice?

Maybe it's because I'm being too Pollyanna about things, but I have a hard time believing that the Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade. This new law in South Dakota, however, is certainly the right's attempt to make that happen. Let's not allow that, shall we?

PRIVACY -- SOUTH DAKOTA PASSES ABORTION BAN WITH NO EXCEPTIONS FOR RAPE OR INCEST: Yesterday, South Dakota's governor signed into law a bill that bans virtually all abortions in the state, with an exception only if the mother's life is at risk. But most "polls show that between 70 and 80 percent of the public support access to safe and legal abortion in at least the case of rape and incest," notes Kate Looby of Planned Parenthood. The South Dakota law is based upon misguided assumptions by lawmakers such as Rep. Bill Napoli (R), who said most abortions are done out of "convenience." But on PBS Newshour, Napoli said he could see an exception being made for rape victims if the girl "was a virgin. She was religious. She planned on saving her virginity until she was married. She was brutalized and raped, sodomized as bad as you can possibly make it, and is impregnated." Rep. Roger Hunt (R), the main sponsor of the legislation, notes a hypocritical "gray area" he carved into the bill for victims of rape and incest: a woman who goes to the emergency room immediately after being raped would be able to use emergency contraception, but she would have to do it "within the first few days after the assault, before any test can determine whether she was pregnant in the first place. The lawmakers concluded that it's OK for a rape victim to have an abortion, so long as she doesn't know for certain that she's doing it." But South Dakota's new law still criminalizes a woman's right to choose. Seven other states are now considering similar abortion bans. Take action for women's rights here.

(From today's American Progress Report)

Katrina - In the News Again

From today's American Progress Report, on a day when I also heard that they found yet another body in a house in New Orleans. This tragedy has no end.

KATRINA - Once More Unto the Breach

President Bush will visit New Orleans tomorrow to try "once more to woo the fractious locals in a region still buried in debris." His "visit to Katrina-ravaged Louisiana on Wednesday follows six months of bungling" that have bogged down reconstruction efforts. Sixty-four percent of the public disapproves of the way Bush has responded to the needs of Katrina victims, and even staunch Bush supporters like Bill Kristol, editor of the conservative Weekly Standard, have labeled the response "an emblem of the administration that just isn't as serious about the competent execution of the functions of government as it should be." "They had better sort it all out swiftly," Newsweek warned. "Hurricane season begins in just three months."

CAUGHT ON TAPE: During the past week, the right wing has attacked the Associated Press for reporting that a new video contradicted what Bush told Diane Sawyer a few days after Katrina: "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees." His defenders argued the new video showed Bush was merely warned the storm could "top" -- not "breach" -- the levees. Fox News anchor Brit Hume claimed "we learned next to nothing" from the tape and that Bush "received no such warning" about levee breaches. Hume misses the point. First, we already know experts warned Bush repeatedly about a levee breach. In the early morning hours of Aug. 29, the Department of Homeland Security sent a "Fast Analysis Report" to the White House situation room. "The potential for severe storm surge to overwhelm Lake Pontchartrain levees is the greatest concern for New Orleans," the report said. "Any storm rated Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson (hurricane) scale will likely lead to severe flooding and/or levee breaching. This could leave the New Orleans metro area submerged for weeks or months." Additionally, a White House aide sat in on the "Hurricane Pam Exercise" in 2004. That exercise concluded that a Category 3 storm could "cause flooding that would leave 300,000 people trapped in New Orleans, many of whom would not have private transportation for evacuation." More generally, the AP video "makes it perfectly clear once again that this disaster was not out of the blue or unforeseeable" and that our government "failed to deliver."

MANY KATRINA VICTIMS REMAIN HOMELESS: Seventy-two percent of Americans think the Bush administration does not "have a clear plan for finding housing and jobs for people left homeless by Hurricane Katrina." Right-wing columnist Robert Novak wrote yesterday that only $27 billion has been spent of the $85 billion appropriated by Congress. "Of the $27 billion, nothing has been spent on housing." "We have thousands of acres of homes just standing in ruins, and the pace with which that cleanup is going is bitterly frustrating," Rep. Richard Baker (R-LA) told Novak. The Brookings Institution's "Katrina Index" found only 16,000 building permits have been issued in New Orleans "because of the cloud of uncertainties still lingering over the city." Rebuilding is slow because "FEMA has not released its revised flood plain zones for the state" that would tell developers the best locations for rebuilding. Also, the $4.2 billion housing request Bush will tout Wednesday contains a "hazard mitigation" program that would give cash reimbursements to the newly-homeless, but would not allow new homes to go up in the place of those Katrina destroyed.

LEVEES MAY BE TOO WEAK TO FACE HURRICANE SEASON: The Washington Post reported Monday that "two teams of independent experts…say large sections of the rebuilt levee system will be substantially weaker than before the hurricane hit." The experts cited construction shortcuts and "weak, substandard" building materials as problems. Additionally, "a plan to line the bases of certain critical levees with a protective layer of rock or concrete - a process known as 'armoring' - is not expected to begin until summer." Louisiana State University professor Ivor van Heerden said New Orleans continues to have "a compromised levee system that failed during a fast-moving Category 3 hurricane. Absolutely nowhere are the levees ready to stand up to the same kind of test." His assessment shows how elusive the administration's goal of "building that levee system better and stronger than before" remains. Meanwhile, thousands of city residents are planning to rebuild their homes in the same place as before the storm, despite the unknown levee strength. "This is an unhealthy situation," said Tulane University's architectural school dean. "We all want people to be able to rebuild. But we want them to rebuild safely."

BETTER INFRASTRUCTURE KEY TO ATTRACTING INVESTMENT: "By the way, in a year from now," Bush boasted at the signing of the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act, "we're going to be talking about, what are we going to do about all these jobs, and who's going to fill them." Unfortunately, the Gulf Opportunity Zone plan has thus far failed to attract businesses to New Orleans. Bloomberg News reported, "As of March 1, only one company had applied" for the nearly $8 billion worth of available financing in New Orleans. Companies are staying away because they have not received adequate "assurances that new levees will protect their investments and that new federal maps won't put them in the middle of flood plains." Researchers have found "the main reason investors are staying away is that there's no funding to make the levees withstand a storm more powerful than category 3."

RED TAPE SLOWS SEARCH FOR VICTIMS: Last week, officials restarted their search "through ravaged neighborhoods with cadaver dogs in hopes of locating 300 to 400 people still unaccounted for." "Since December," CNN reported, "bureaucratic red tape has blocked funding to find more bodies of missing residents hidden in the storm's wreckage." Louisiana medical examiner Dr. Louis Cataldie said, "We used state funds as long as we could until we ran out of money. … Then [we] made the federal request, and that money just came in so we are doing what we can."

VOTING TROUBLES EXPOSE RACIAL DIVIDE: A federal judge last month refused to "order Louisiana officials to provide out-of-state satellite polling places for displaced voters" in the New Orleans primary election. Instead, over 700,000 former city residents will receive "information packets" about how to vote by absentee ballot. The ruling against satellite polling locations sparked outrage among the city's dispersed African-American voters and "has lent the mayoral contest a particularly volatile character." "They had all kinds of excuses why that couldn't happen," City Council President Oliver M. Thomas Jr. said. "But the Iraqi people voted [at satellite offices]. Why can't we do that for all of our voters?" Currently, candidates in the April 22 primary "are planning campaign stops and possibly even advertising in places as far away as Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Memphis and Jackson, Miss."

06 March 2006

Teabag Tag

"It is better to light one candle in the present than curse the darkness of the past."
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt

Recovery is Slow

I’m still reeling from our Oscar party last night. With 22 guests (including four kids), it wasn’t our largest party – but it was still loud, chaotic (in a good way!) and fun. It always ends up that I don’t actually hear much of the show itself, since the decibel level in the house is at crazy levels, so my “highlights” list is probably incomplete. I’m sure there’s more I could have said about the show, had I heard more.

But it’s more than just my inability to hear the show that’s got me a little bleary this morning. The gals at Go Fug Yourself have identified what I wasn’t able to put into words – The Clooney Coma. So please forgive anything that I’m missing in this recap, and just blame it on George.

Highlights:

  • Jon Stewart – Like I said, you can’t hear squat during the party because everyone’s so loud, but what I heard I thought was really funny – his ad-libs in particular were great. In the post-Oscar chit-chat (it’s remarkable that they do “post-game analysis” of an awards show, as if the award winners are going to watch video of themselves over and over so they can get it right next time) some were comparing him to Johnny Carson, which I thought was remarkably apt. He seemed completely unfazed by the whole thing (I thought even his opening monologue was good), as if he weren’t nervous at all, as if he was meant to be there. I hope he gets invited back.

  • George Clooney – I wanted him to win something just to get him in front of a microphone. In addition to being unsettlingly handsome, he’s also smart, funny and witty – a deadly combination. In a post-show interview, his publicist was standing behind him talking on the phone, and Clooney said, “He’s been on the phone constantly since I won – he’s going to get more tail from my Oscar than I am.” Self-deprecating humor from someone that good-looking is, somehow, even more charming. I realize that’s completely unfair for all men who aren’t George Clooney, but the same thing applies for all women who aren’t Rachel Weisz. I fail to understand why Clooney is still single. He’s got a house in Italy, for crying out loud, as if he needed any more selling points.

  • Three Six Mafia – When they won, they looked less like rappers and more like kids in a candy store – which is what the damned thing should be about, really. Stewart had it right when he said, “Now, that’s how you accept an Oscar!” They were so excited, so over-the-moon, that I smiled in spite of myself (and in spite of my desire to see Dolly Parton win an Oscar). Their acceptance was a direct antithesis to Reese Witherspoon’s, which sounded scripted, rehearsed, and downright smarmy. (I still can’t believe she actually said, “I didn’t expect to be here” – I mean, really, Reese... You can’t get away with the “I had no idea I was the favorite” baloney. You’re cute and you’re a good actress – you don’t need the “aw shucks” thing on top of it. But I digress.)

  • Larry McMurtry – Wearing jeans? To the Oscars? I love this guy.
Disappointments:

  • Felicity Huffman didn’t get an Oscar – I thought Witherspoon was good in “Walk the Line,” but Huffman was better in “Transamerica.” Much, much better. At the other award shows when she’s won, she’s been an absolute joy in the acceptance speech category, too. At the Independent Spirit Awards, she told the story of a light that went out during a critical scene, and a key grip who fixed it when a replacement bulb couldn’t be found. As he fixed the light he apparently muttered, “This fucking movie better fucking win some fucking awards, because it’s a fucking pain in the ass!” And then she said, “Well, here’s a fucking award!” She’s adorable, gleeful, and she deserved that fucking Oscar.

  • David Strathairn couldn’t also win an Oscar – I love Philip Seymour Hoffman and thought he was sublime as Capote, and yet I feel badly that Strathairn’s movie couldn’t have come out in a different year. I feel like he would’ve been a lock if not for Hoffman. Not that getting second place is much of a consolation to not winning an Oscar, but I’d be curious to know the actual voting results in numbers, to see whose year it could have been.

  • “The Constant Gardener” being largely forgotten – “The Constant Gardener” was a much better film than “Crash,” and should have been at least been nominated for Best Picture. Weisz’s Best Supporting Actress nomination and award almost seem like a token gesture. I hope that at least with her Oscar more people will decide to rent the film.

  • “Paradise Now” not winning Best Foreign Film – I’ve not seen it (or any of the foreign film nominees), but I was sort of hoping it’d win just to see the chaos that would ensue afterwards – not just in the post-show chatter, but in the media later.

  • “Crash” was not the year’s Best Picture – It was an interesting movie, a thought-provoking movie, but it was not the year’s best movie. Period. A friend of mine said, “Crash wasn’t terrible but was probably the fifth best picture in the category.” Well, fifth-best ain’t best. At least not in the real world. I was hoping “Capote” might win, knowing it wouldn’t, but “Crash?” Really, now, people. Giving it the Best Picture Oscar doesn’t eliminate racial tensions in Los Angeles, let alone the rest of the world, even if it makes you feel a little better about things.
But the biggest disappointment of the evening for me was that instead of having someone like Meryl Streep read the nomination for “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp,” they got Ludacris and Queen Latifah to do it. That’s not funny! That’s not irony! That works! That makes sense! I was so bummed... Thank goodness for The Clooney Coma to lull me back into my stupor.