Timeless Words

I am by no means a religious person of any sort. Still, I can't sing "Amazing Grace" without crying, and the song below is incredibly powerful and meaningful to me. These words are - sadly - probably truer today than they were when they were first written.

Feeding Off the Love of the Land
by Stevie Wonder

Seems the wisdom of man hasn't got much wiser
Than the very beginning of our time
Agree or war has been our way of compromising
Let live and love has become our biggest lie

Seems to me that fools are even more foolish
Thinking of themselves and nobody else
But then if asked for poor will riches be replenished
They say boot straps must be pulled up by themselves

Feeding off the love of the land
Leaving much to be desired

Living off the love of the Lord
While the price for life is higher

Isn't love to be admired
Has the good in man expired
Stealing all the love and the beauty from the land

I awake each morning to the birds a-singing
Singing out to God to come and save his own
But when throughout the world the cry of love is ringing
Is then when He'll stop to hear our song

Did you know that when you feel the earth a-shaken
It's only mother nature with a crying heart
You see we have taken from her for so many ages
Will there be a time when taking stops and giving starts

'Cause we're feeding off the love of the land
Leaving much to be desired

Living off the love of the Lord
While the price for life is higher

Isn't love to be admired
Has the good in man expired
Stealing all the love and the beauty from the land

Yes we are feeding off the love of the land
Never hearing what He's saying

Living off the love of the Lord
Never feeling what you're praying

Never praising Him for beauty
Only praying God please give me

Stealing all the love and the beauty from the land
Stealing all the love and the beauty from His land

Strawberries & Hail

Though not necessarily in that order.

First, here's some hail that fell outside one of my workplaces last week in that crazy storm. I think it was Friday. At any rate, the hail was falling heavily on the cedar rooves in the cul-de-sac, and it sounded just like one of those rain sticks.



And then at the farmer's market on Saturday, I got another couple pints of strawberries and made s'more fresh ice cream. I tried an experiment with this one, adding a little vodka to the mixture (only a little!) to see if that would make the ice cream stay a little softer in the freezer, but I also reduced the amount of sugar... And the result is actually more icy than before. So, next time I'm going to give it the exact amount of sugar as before plus a little vodka and see what happens. Anyway, I love making this ice cream - it's a ridiculously easy recipe, and the strawberries are so gorgeous...


Berries in the blender, awaiting their fate.

The Art of Doing Nothing

It's been a supremely lazy weekend 'round here, which has been glorious. We watched bike racing (My Boyfriend won the Giro d'Italia, which makes me very happy), ate breakfast out, met some friends for dinner, did a bit of housework and played on the computer. Lovely.

On CyclingNews.com, the race report from yesterday's final stage of the Giro began like this:

As a 28-year-old, handsome Italian, with a loving family, a healthy newborn son, an adoring public and now pretty in pink, Ivan Basso has a lot of reasons to be happy today.

"I'm really, really happy today. I think it was a beautiful Giro, and this is a really special moment in my career," were some of the first words from the 2006 winner of the Giro d'Italia.

And yes, that's my emphasis.

Now all you non-cycling-fan readers can breathe a sigh of relief, as I won't have any cycling-related stuff to write about until the beginning of July with the start of the Tour de France. Although, I have to admit that when I get into cycling posts I kind of forget what I used to write about before there was a bike race going on. Bear with me, I'm sure it'll come to me shortly.

Giro: Man on a Mission

With a six-minute lead over the guy in second place, Ivan Basso didn't need to win today's stage of the Giro d'Italia to safeguard his top spot on the podium in Milan tomorrow. But because his wife gave birth to their second child yesterday, a boy called Santiago, he wanted to win. In fact, he carried a photograph of his new baby boy in his jersey for the entire seven-plus hours he was in the saddle today, only to hoist it above his head as he crossed the finish line first - which he did, in fantastic style. There's no doubt who the boss was this year.

From CyclingNews.com comes this tidbit:

Holding a slightly crumpled, sweat-stained picture of his day-old son with both hands (who he still has not seen in the flesh), it was perhaps the most emotion-charged Basso we've seen since the race began, almost three weeks ago.

"I did it for my son Santiago and my wife Micaela," said Basso. "I had [the photo] with me in my pocket during the stage; a photographer gave me the photo of my son this morning, and my gesture at the finish line wasn't something I had thought about - I was so happy, I felt I had to express my emotions."

Basso holding the picture of his new baby as he won today's stage. Picture from here.

So, with tomorrow's stage being largely ceremonial from Basso's standpoint (it'll be a sprinter's stage, which won't concern him), he's secured his place in history as the winner of the 2006 Giro d'Italia. His goal at the end of last season was to try for the double - the Giro and the Tour de France in one year - so we'll see if he can recover the superior form he's exhibited for the last three weeks in time for the Tour in July.

A New Basso to Love

Just a quick note to say that my guy, Ivan Basso, became a daddy for the second time this morning. His wife, Micaela, gave birth to a son they've named Santiago. Daughter Domitilla is something like three or four years old, and predictably adorable. It looks like Daddy Basso will be able to bring home a nice present to his newly expanded family on Sunday in the form of a victory in a Grand Tour...

It's Friday... And I'm Beat.

I'm exhausted this week - too many jobs and too many mornings getting up before 6am to watch the Giro d'Italia - and so even though when I opened up Blogger it seemed like it'd be easier to just clear out the Bloglines queue again (it's so backed up it's unbelievable), doing all that linking and such is actually fairly time-consuming as far as posting goes, so here I am talking about doing it rather than just doing it.

Yeah, I'm tired.

We have no plans for the weekend, other than a trip to the farmer's market tomorrow (the first one was last Saturday, where we got reacquainted with our favorite breakfast) and probably some housework and prep for Italian classes next term. Big fun. Chris leaves for Taiwan on the 3rd of June, so he'll also likely be starting to prepare for that trip. Otherwise, it'll be a weekend for catching up on all kinds of things, including sleep. Hallelujah for afternoon naps - I'm planning to have several over the next few days.

Skamania Pictures

I finally got the pictures developed from my recent trip to the Skamania Lodge in the Columbia Gorge. Most of them were mediocre (at best). Here are a few I liked.


What, like animal crossings?


The irises were lovely, and with the pink blossoms in the background it was all very spring-y, I thought. I don't even remember what the pink things were.


Lily of the Valley is probably my favorite flower in the world, and there was a huge patch of them in one tiny garden between buildings. I hovered over them for a good twenty minutes, using up at least a whole roll of film on that patch of flowers alone - and inhaling that light (yet still heady) scent.

Giro: Water Carriers' Competition

From today's news snippets on CyclingNews.com:

Water-carriers battle in the Giro

Cycling is traditionally divided into stars and water-carriers and while battle rages at the top of the Giro d'Italia rankings between stars such as Ivan Basso, José Gutierrez and Paolo Savoldelli, a literal contest among water-carriers has been going on further back.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport Quick-Step's José Antonio Garrido recently set a new record by carrying 16 water bottles simultaneously from the team car to his team-mates. With one bottle in his mouth, two in the cages on the bike, two in his pockets, six under the front of his jersey, and five under the back, Garrido lugged over five litres of water to his team-mates.

In yesterday's stage, Fabio Sacchi (Milram) beat Garrido's record by carrying 18 water bottles simultaneously, but Garrido thinks he can beat the Italian. "I've already done a test, and think I can manage 20 bottles," he said.

There's more than just bragging rights at stake too. At the end of the Giro on Sunday, Italian cycling legend Francesco Moser will present a prize to the man who manages to carry the most bottles: a bottle of wine for each of the bottles carried. "It will be a kind of miracle: water will be turned into wine!" said Moser.

Courtesy Michele Lostia

Giro: I Know How to Pick 'Em

Can I just say that I have really fabulous taste?

My guy, Ivan Basso, is absolutely kicking everyone's ass all the way to Milan in the Giro d'Italia. He won today's intensely difficult mountain stage - making it look easy - and leaving even the normally chatty commentators speechless. The race report begins thusly:

Comparisons between Ivan Basso and Miguel Indurain have now stopped. Today, on the slopes of the seventeen kilometre-long Monte Bondone, as the maglia rosa rode virtually the entire second half on his own en route to victory, the only words television commentators were able to blurt out over and over again were "Lui è fuoriclasse, stesso Lance Armstrong" ("He is unequalled, like Lance Armstrong").

The guy who's in 2nd overall is now nearly five and a half minutes behind Basso, and 3rd & 4th places are around nine and a half minutes back. Yes, tomorrow's stage looks like it'll be brutal - so, if Basso has a bad day he's built up quite a nice little cushion of insurance on his nearest rivals... But the way he's been riding for the last couple of weeks, it looks like he won't even need it.

Cheap Airfare Within Europe

Europe's rail network is so fabulous that I tend to forget how great the "puddle-jumper" airfares are, too. When we were in the UK in 2003, we got one-way tickets from London to Glasgow for around £20 apiece - less than the train fare was, and so much faster! Getting to those fares, however, proved to be something of a scavenger hunt. I had friends in the UK, thank goodness, who pointed me in the direction of which airlines to check out.

What do you do if you're traveling by air within Europe and you don't have kind friends to help you out? Now, the answer is simple - there's Europe Cheap Ticket Links. It's both a blog and a search engine, with up-to-date info about the best fares within Europe. And as much as I love train travel, it's nice to have options.

Full disclosure: Europe Cheap Ticket Links is part of the BootsnAll Travel Network, my employer. As I learn more about the various resources in the Network, I'll post information about them here.

Recent Garden Pictures

Despite the deck construction (and subsequent trampling of most of my garden), a few things managed to poke their pretty heads up this spring. Here are a couple samples.


Two tulips in my front garden


A neighbor's rose

Giro: Freezing Conditions

It's not unusual for at least one mountaintop in the Giro d'Italia to still have snow on it - it is only May, after all - but the conditions today for stage 13 were frigid. At the finish, several riders - soaked to the bone by the rain - had teeth chattering as they crossed the line. It'll be amazing if there aren't a few head colds in the peloton tomorrow.

Overall leader Ivan Basso (Team CSC) maintained and even extended his lead over his closest rivals - the guy in 2nd is now almost three and a half minutes behind him - all while playing it very safe (Chris thinks it was too safe) on the tricky and wet descent to the finish. He still came in 2nd on the stage, even after pussy-footing it around the hairpins. As far as I'm concerned, playing it safe was the perfect way to go - one rider apparently crashed so hard on the descent he had to be medevaced out (we don't yet know details, but hope he's okay).

Today's winner was Saunier Duval's Leonardo Piepoli - the only man who stayed with Basso on the final climb, and who took risks on the descent to beat Basso by 43 seconds. Tomorrow is another mountain stage, though the hardest stages are still to come this week. Basso has built up a nice cushion for himself, so if he plays his cards right he'll just need to defend his lead over the most brutal climbs. If those days are anything like the two mountain stages we've seen so far, however, he'll be off the front of the peloton - not because he has to be, but because he can be.

Pacific Northwest Tsunami? If God Says So.

From today's American Progress Report:

"In another in a series of notable pronouncements, religious broadcaster Pat Robertson says God told him storms and possibly a tsunami will hit America's coastline this year." "There well may be something as bad as a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest," Robertson predicted. We sure hope the recent Pacific Tsunami Warning System test went off without a hitch.

The Shoes that Take Me to Rome

We've been having some fantastically warm weather here in Portland this week, which has given me the excuse I look for each summer to wear the red sandals I bought in Italy in 2001. They're not the only shoes I have that I've bought there, but they're the ones that take me back to Rome every time I put them on.

In 2001, it hadn't occurred to me until I walked the streets in Florence that I should probably buy a pair of shoes in Italy. It's not that I wasn't already an avid shoe collector, I just hadn't considered the possibilities. Browsing the shoe stores in via Calzaiuoli, however, made me change my mind.

Unfortunately, I shied away from what I considered the more outlandish styles that seemed to be everywhere. The fact that they were everywhere should have been a clue to me to just buy them, since they'd undoubtedly be fashionable everywhere in six months (they were), but I wasn't ready to take that kind of leap then. So it wasn't until we got to Rome that I found a pair of sandals I was willing to take home.

They're black and red, which limits the frequency with which I can wear them (black and red not being the most popular summer clothing colors), and my favorite features of them are the heel and the strap - the heel is an angular black wedge, and there's a long red strap that wraps around my ankle several times before tying in the front.

I love the shoes, partly because I love the way they look and the way they make me feel, but most especially because I bought them in Rome. Every time I look at them, I'm transported back to Italy. It's so cool to look down at one's feet during the day and think they're somewhere else.

Le Frase Idiomatiche

More Italian phrases from our calendar…

“Laura è in stato interessante” means “Laura is pregnant,” but literally means “Laura is in an interesting state.” (I should say it’s a bit more than interesting, especially if you’re the pregnant woman!)

“Non dovresti mettere tutto in piazza” means “You shouldn’t have done everything out in the open,” but literally means “You shouldn’t put everything in the public square.”

And if Laura hadn't put everything into the public square, maybe she wouldn't be in such an interesting state, methinks.

Why Go - Revisited

I first mentioned this website in April of last year, and I still love it - it's worth another mention, especially as so many people are gearing up for summer travel.

Why Go is a collection of user-submitted photos, videos and quotes related to travel, one on display for each day. It's the ultimate page-a-day calendar for travel lovers, reminding us why it is that we suffer through the agony of packing and customs and layovers. It's also motivation for those who are on the fence about what the point of "all this travel nonsense" is - just look at what you could see there! Out there, beyond your front yard! In a very real sense, the world is waiting for you - and yes, it will keep right on going whether you accept its invitation or not. So why not?!?

And for those seasoned travelers among you, you folks with hundreds of travel pictures that still make you sigh to look at them (so think what they'll do to everyone else), make those shots a part of the Why Go library. It's a samaritan's work, for the greater good and all that. Seriously.

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

The West Wing: End of an Era

Last night we bid adieu to a good friend we've had for seven years - The West Wing. It was a great last episode, and of course I cried through much of it (truth be told, I've been crying through at least part of every episode for the past month or more). It's sad to know there will never be another new one, especially when it served as such a welcome respite from the administration we suffer through in reality. Now if we could only elect Jed Bartlett out of TV-land into this world...

Giro: The Smiling Assassin

I managed to keep myself away from the cycling news sites this morning, as today’s Giro stage wasn’t shown live, and I’m glad I let the tape-delayed TV coverage be a surprise. It was a good one.

After a long flat ride along the Eastern coast of Italy, the course turned inland and uphill. And in no time at all, the day’s breakaway was caught and the lead group contained all the race favorites. The steeper the road got, the smaller the group got. Rider after rider was shelled out the back as the pace continued to quicken – lead largely in the end by Team CSC’s Carlos Sastre, pulling Ivan Basso (nicknamed “The Smiling Assassin” for his ever-present grin even when he’s working his tail off) behind him. Basso was the only man in the group who never looked like he was struggling at all.

With 4k to go, Damiano Cunego (Lampre) tried to jump off the front. Basso slowly followed him up the road, and when he caught up to Cunego he just kept going. Cunego couldn’t hold his wheel, so it was Basso on his own for the last 3.5k. He won the stage 30 seconds ahead of Cunego, and put minutes into his other rivals. Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval) finished 1:15 back, Danilo di Luca (Liquigas) finished 1:32 back, and Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel), last year’s winner, served up the day’s big surprise by bonking early on the climb and ultimately finishing 2:20 behind Basso.

Basso is now in the maglia rosa – Cunego is in 3nd on GC a full 1:34 behind Basso. Savoldelli is now in 4th at 2:35 back. Basso humbly acknowledges that anything can still happen – there are two weeks of racing left, and the last week is an absolute killer. He’s looking very, very good, though, heading into week two.

And speaking of My Boyfriend looking good, Chris pointed out last week that Basso’s website got a facelift. It’s a nice one, too – it’s even got wallpapers, screen savers and a shop with Basso-related clothing. I’ve put one of the wallpapers on all the computers I work on, and I’ll tell you it’s more than a little distracting to see this picture staring at me every time I close the program I’m working on.

(You've got to click on the picture for the full effect...)

Of course, I’m not complaining…

Mother's Day Proclamation

Mother's Day Proclamation - 1870
by Julia Ward Howe

Arise then...women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
"We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe our dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil
At the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace...
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God -
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

Giro d'Italia: Going Up

Today's stage of the Giro was the first with mountains, so there were a few meaningful changes on the GC. The winner today came from the breakaway group - Belgian Rik Verbrugghe (Cofidis) had only enough energy as he crossed the line to raise one hand from his handlebars and point a finger to the sky. He was spent. And the peloton, which had been steadily closing the one-time seven minute gap on the break, was coming up quickly behind him. He had just enough oomph to get to the line before the pack.

Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel), last year's winner, had been hanging out in the peloton for the whole climb - near the front, but never that far up. And his team wasn't really doing any of the work, either - Team CSC and Lampre were working the hardest. So with 1km to go, Savoldelli had the legs to jump away from the field and take 2nd on the stage. He got himself a time bonus for that, too, which helped make up the time he'd lost on the team time trial. Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval) and Damiano Cunego (Lampre) both finished well; Simoni lost so much time on the team time trial, however, that he's still only in 20th place on GC, nearly two minutes behind the maglia rosa.

Danilo di Luca (Liquigas), who said before the race started that he felt like he could win this year, suffered badly in the heat and humidity. He finished in a reasonable place, but expended a ton of effort throughout the day as he kept getting dropped by the peloton and had to chase back on. He remains in 9th position on GC - it'll be interesting to see how he manages tomorrow's hills.

Oh, and how did My Boyfriend do, you ask? Ivan Basso (Team CSC) looked fabulous all day (of course) on the climbs - his team was one of the ones at the front, and they looked great. When many of the riders around Basso were standing on their pedals to get more power up the steep climbs, he remained seated, as if this were a walk in the park. He finished 6th on the stage, just outside the time bonuses, and is in 3rd overall (11 seconds back).

The leader after today is Serguei Gonchar (T-Mobile) - he regains the maglia rosa after relinquishing it for a day to teammate Olaf Pollack. Gonchar was ecstatic to put the jersey back on again, pumping his fists in the air and kissing the jersey just before he got his post-race smooches from the podium girls.

And in a bit of looking ahead, Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile), who was relegated to perpetual bridesmaid status during the Lance Armstrong reign over the Tour de France, is riding the Giro as part of his training for this year's Tour. He will likely not do terribly well on some of the bigger climbs in the Giro, as he's just not ready yet, but he looked quite good today. It should be a great Tour.

Voting

When I turned 18 it was February, so even though I rushed to the county courthouse that morning as soon as it opened so I could register to vote, I didn't actually get to vote on anything for a few months. When I got my first ballot, I was so excited - I tore into it and scanned it to get an idea of the important decisions I would very shortly be making. I looked at it for a few minutes and then, puzzled, I took it to my father.

"Dad," I said, "How come there are a bunch of positions where there's only one candidate running?"

"They're running unopposed," he said.

I knew what "running unopposed" meant, but when I learned that term I had no idea so many elected positions ended up being that way. When I protested, saying I didn't understand what the point of voting was, then, if these people would get those jobs regardless, my father told me something that I'm reminded of every single time I get a ballot in the mail.

"That's democracy," he said.

Yes, it is - I agree - and yet I can't help but be utterly confused (still) when I open my ballot this afternoon to vote (I'll be dropping it off at a dropsite tomorrow) and find several races in which the candidates are not only unopposed (I've grown used to that), but in which countless positions don't even have anyone listed who's running.

Specifically, there are almost two full oversized pages of "Precinct Committeeperson" positions for which there are only (I'm guessing) a third of the requisite candidates. What's up with that? What does a "Precinct Committeeperson" do? Is it such a crap job that no one would possibly want it? Or are they so unimportant that it doesn't matter their positions aren't filled? Stranger still, each precinct is divided into male and female candidates - for most you're asked to vote for one (or more) of each gender. What the hell?!? Perhaps if I had any idea whatsoever what a "Precinct Committeeperson" did it would become crystal clear why there needs to be an equal representation of each gender serving in those roles, but I kind of doubt that.

Anyone have any pearls of wisdom there to share with me? I'd love to know the answer.

Eugene Native in Giro d'Italia

We're particularly excited watching this year's Giro because there's a hometown hero riding his first Grand Tour. Aaron Olson used to ride on Chris' team here in Portland, and is now splashed on television screens... Pretty cool!

This article appeared on CyclingNews a few days ago.

Olson enjoying first Grand Tour
by Les Clarke in Wanze, Belgium

Saunier Duval's Aaron Olson has been enjoying his first grand tour in the wet of Belgium, and as Cyclingnews caught up with the American before the fourth stage of the Giro in Wanze he explained that it's everything he thought it would be - including the weather. "I mean, it was great the couple of days before the race and the day of the prologue was alright," said Olson, "but since then it's been wet and dangerous - but the team's had good luck to stay out of trouble," he added.

As one of five Americans riding this year's Giro, Olson believes the increased interest in the 'Italian version of the Tour de France' from Americans can only benefit the strength of cycling in the States overall. "With Arsmtrong retiring, there's been a lot more Americans stepping up - I think there are five Americans in the Giro this year and quite a few Aussies; so there's quite a few English-speaking riders in the peloton," he said.

And the interest isn't just as a result of the increased numbers of US riders competing, according to the Saunier Duval rider. "I think there's a lot of interest in the Giro, especially with all the top Italians going for it. It makes it an exciting year, and for me it's great to be a part of it and riding for such a great leader [Gilberto Simoni]," he said.

Personally, Olson has achieved one of his big goals for the year just by being at the Giro, something that brings a big smile to his face. So what else for the rest of 2006? "I don't know," he said. "One of my biggest goals was to make one of the grand tour teams, and my number one choice this year was the Giro because of Simoni in his last year," he explained, before adding that, "Normally it would be to try and make the Tour [de France] team, but I'll take everything I can get and go from there."

"In terms of personal goals - it's my first year in the Pro Tour, so I just want to improve throughout the year and for now, make it to Milan," he said.

Speaking of making it to Milan, Olson believes the best way to approach the killer final stretch of the race will be to go into it a little blind, so to speak. "I've just [seen the Giro's big climbs] on the map, but not in person!" he exclaimed. "[Viatcheslav] Ekimov told us before Paris-Roubaix one time that sometimes it's better not to know what's ahead of you because you might actually do better.

"If you know, maybe you'll always have it in the back of your mind. So I'm going in blind, but it's going to be unbelievably challenging. I'm not exactly a climber, but I usually get better as the race goes on, so if I don't die before then hopefully I'll be alright!" he said with a laugh.

And as for another grand tour in 2006, the former Colavita rider is open to all suggestions. "I definitely think it would be possible; at least it would give me time to rest during the Tour and try and build back up for the Vuelta," he said. "It's always a possibly, but with the Spanish team it's a bit difficult - so many Spanish guys [will be] going for it - but we'll see. I wasn't originally planning on doing the Giro, but who knows...I'm just really happy to be here," he said.

Giro Update: Team CSC Wins Today

Team CSC won today's team time trial at the Giro d'Italia (and neither Chris nor I can remember when the Giro last had a TTT*). And, as always, the GC looks very different after today's stage than it did beforehand.

Ivan Basso is comfortably in 5th overall now, and with some interesting and hilly stages coming up on Saturday and Sunday, there's bound to be another shakeup soon.

*Edit: Just looked it up - this is the first team time trial in the Giro since 1989!

Why New Orleans Matters

I’ve said before that “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.” Tom Piazza seems to agree. In Why New Orleans Matters, he writes, “New Orleans inspires the kind of love that very few other cities do.” Amen, brother.

I finally got around to reading this short but powerful book, and ended up flagging so many passages I figured I should put at least a few of them to good use here. I wish I were capable of some kind of literary criticism, or at least a low-grade analysis of the book, but I’m not. Or at least I don’t have time to even consider that option. So instead, I offer you the highlights from my list of favorite passages (it was a long list).

on the weather
“…not to mention weather that for at least seven months a year is equivalent to wearing a towel soaked in steaming hot water wrapped around your head.”

“You sensed it as soon as you entered the city. The air smelled different; it felt different, heavier, on your arms, more like a liquid than like air.”

on the religion in everyday life
“If all of it sounds vaguely religious, I would say that it isn’t that vague. New Orleans is the most religious place I have ever been, even though much of the population is profoundly profane, pagan, and steeped in the seven deadly sins and some others not even listed.”

“New Orleans is a city of elegance, beauty, refinement, and grace. It is also a city of violence, poor education, and extreme poverty of a type that you can’t imagine if you haven’t actually seen it. Even in its most desperate precincts it is a city of deep and powerful humanity, of endurance, resilience, humor and affirmation in the face of adversity. Yet it may be worth stating what should be obvious: the good times, in New Orleans as elsewhere, ride on the ill-paid efforts of people who did not get certain breaks.

“There is no way to avoid this fact if you are going to discuss New Orleans honestly; it is part of what makes the city what it is, and part of why all the beauty – human and physical – of the city represents such a triumph of humanity. In the black gospel tradition, which is so central to New Orleans culture, there is a saying: ‘No cross, no crown.’ If you don’t accept the burden of your humanity and your finiteness and your suffering and, perhaps more important, that of the people around you, you will never reach the ennobling reward that the word Heaven represents to a believer. You can’t have a triumph without triumphing over something – whether from outside or from within yourself.”

on returning to the city after the hurricanes
“If you do not live in New Orleans you can try this simple experiment: Put a chalk mark on your wall at a point three feet from the floor, then imagine everything below that line coated with toxic scum, swollen with foul moisture. If this is difficult to imagine, take this book, place it in a sink filled with water and leave it there for a week and a half. Then pace the soaked book on the floor and try to imagine the entire floor filled with several layers of such books. If it is still hard to envision this, take all of your books, place them in your bathtub and immerse them in a mixture of water, urine, spoiled food, feces, weed killer from the garage, and perhaps your beloved cat, preferably drowned and bloated. Make sure to turn all the lights off and to leave the house as nearly as possible sealed to the fresh air, which, come to think of it, isn’t really fresh air anymore in New Orleans.”

“...if you are yourself from New Orleans there is no reason at all to keep thinking about any of this, unless you are like the very privileged uptown white woman in late middle age whom I talked to just a few days ago, a property owner who lives in one of the parts of Uptown that had not flooded and whose property is just fine and who has had electricity for most of a week … [who says that] the severity of the disaster had been so overstated on the news – all that focus on the Ninth Ward and all that. ‘The Ninth Ward isn’t New Orleans,’ she said to me. ‘You can come to New Orleans a hundred times and never even see the Ninth Ward.’

“So true, I thought – and that kind of savage, self-satisfied, ignorant attitude of large numbers of the criminally oblivious privileged is also a part of New Orleans. God plainly loves them because they have electricity, and it is also plain what God thinks of those who don’t. They hold many of the purse strings, and they will be trying with everything they have to determine the future of the city.”

how one woman’s lack of a conscience (a soul?) spoke volumes about how a government feels about its people
“And what about New Orleans? What is the future of the culture that came from all those neighborhoods with their own sense of being, formed over decades and decades, where parents and grandparents and great-grandparents had lived? Former first lady Barbara Bush, visiting the Astrodome, told a radio interviewer, ‘So many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them.’ How could they possibly miss a place where they were, you know, underprivileged?

“How could they miss a place where they knew everyone on the block? Or where they could walk to the grocery store and buy food and seasonings out of which they could prepare meals that were unique to that place and which they had eaten since childhood and which made them happy? How could they miss a place where there was music all the time, and where they could sit out in the evening on their front steps talking to people they had known for years, and joking in a way that everyone understood, or where their son had gotten dressed in his high school band uniform that they had saved hard-earned money to buy, and then went out to play in the band for the Mardi Gras parade? How could they miss the place where their granddaughter took her first steps, or their father had kept his uniform from World War Two in a cardboard suitcase lined with newspaper?

“How could you even say such a thing unless you assumed that people who were – you know – underprivileged had no past, no sense of life, no memories and no feelings – in short, weren’t really people at all, as we know them? That they were incapable of finding dignity and a reason to live even in the teeth of a hostile situation? The ‘underprivileged’ people of New Orleans spun a culture out of their lives – a music, a cuisine, a sense of life – that has been recognized around the world as a transforming spiritual force. Out of those pitifully small incomes and crumbling houses, and hard, long days and nights of work came a staggering Yes, an affirmation of life – their lives, Life Itself – in defiance of a world that told them in as many was as it could find that they were, you know, dispensable.

“This may seem obvious to you if you are reading this, but it bears saying over and over again. They are not dispensable. Not to New Orleans, not to America. And any scenario of a rebuilt New Orleans that does not embrace the fact of their centrality to New Orleans, that does not find a way to welcome them back and make jobs and a new life for them, will be an obscenity.”

Oregonians: Don't Forget to Vote!

Ballots are due May 16, and that doesn't mean postmarked by May 16. If you don't get it in the mail by the 13th, drop it off at an official ballot box. Just vote!

Here's the online voter's guide, and a county-by-county list of ballot box sites.

Cruisin' for Somethin'

I've never been drawn to the idea of going on a cruise. I prefer the idea of being in a place with my own timetable (or one that I've at least had a hand in constructing), so I can explore on foot what I want, when I want. Still, I thought that one cruise I might be interested in was up to Alaska's Inside Passage. I've heard that the scenery is beautiful, it's not overly focused on the all-you-can-eat buffet (another reason cruises aren't appealing to me) and the trips aren't very long. So I thought I'd check out the Cruises and Vacation Packages site to see what I could find out about Alaska cruises.

I have to say that although the site seems to be full of great information and deals on vacation packages, the information about the various cruises on offer is seriously lacking. I can look up cruises by the different cruise lines listed, but not by destination. When I click on the various cruise lines' names, I'm given a list of the ships in their fleet - but, again, not where they go. For a cruise expert, this might be fine - they might know exactly where each ship goes, or at least which ship they want to book. For a cruise novice like me, however, it's a frustrating exercise to have to check out each cruise line's individual page. I finally did find information on a cruise to Alaska's Inside Passage, but it felt more like that was based on trial and error than anything else. A destination list for cruises would be infinitely helpful.

Now, the vacation packages part of the website is another matter altogether - there are deals galore here, for just about every destination worldwide you can think of. And the deals do look good. Being a bit of a spy novel buff, this trip in particular caught my eye...

The bottom line for me is that this site doesn't make me want to go on a cruise any more than I did already, and it also doesn't make me optimistic that I'd find what I wanted there even if I changed my mind. Again, if someone is a cruise expert, this site might provide everything necessary... But really, everyone is a novice at some point, right?

Full disclosure: Cruises and Vacation Packages is part of the BootsnAll Travel Network, my employer. As I learn more about the various resources in the Network, I'll post information about them here.

Giro d'Italia - Underway

I've been so busy lately I haven't had a chance to think about - much less write about - the Giro d'Italia, which just finished its 4th stage today. Perhaps my least favorite rider in the peloton won today (his 2nd stage win of the race thus far), which is annoying, and arguably his biggest challenger had to abandon after yesterday's stage with a fractured kneecap that will require surgery. I'm not-so-secretly hoping the road kicks up soon so the annoying sprinter is left behind...

And how, you ask, is My Boyfriend doing? Well, he's not doing much of anything. Yet. He's staying out of trouble and near the front of the pack, though he's 43 seconds back on the G.C. at the moment. There is much road to cover yet, so I have every confidence he'll choose the right time to shine.


photo from here

Oh, wait, that's right - he's always shining.

How Much Are You Willing to Pay for a Fake Gucci Bag?

If you said $12,000, then you'd be on the right track.

From my most recent copy of National Geographic Traveler (emphasis added):

Have you ever been tempted by fake Prada or Gucci handbags on the streets of Florence or Rome? You're not alone: A recent survey found that 69 percent of Americans see nothing wrong with buying counterfeit goods. But such purchases may cost much more than you bargained for.

Since last summer, tourists in Italy have been slapped with astoundingly high fines - more than $12,000 - if plainclothes police catch them buying fakes. One Danish woman vacationing on the Italian Riviera was hit with this fine after buying a pair of $12 copycat sunglasses. She ended up being charged a reduced amount - $4,050 - for paying the fine immediately.

To warn unsuspecting tourists about the new law, the city of Venice created an ad campaign called "BAD BAG" and erected kiosks with bold yellow-and-black multilingual posters. But vandals often dstroy the kiosks as quickly as they are put up and obliterate the posters, so many visitors have no idea about the potential risks of buying a fake.

France also increased penalties for buyers of knock-off luxury items last year to three times the retail price of the real thing. Buying or possessing imitation goods is punishable by fines of up to $365,000.

The European Union is under pressure to crack down on counterfeiting, and that may include more fines for consumers. Authorities stress that by buying ripoffs, travelers are supporting organized crime and child labor, undermining legitimate companies and costing workers their jobs.

At prices like these, you're better off buying the originals.

National Geographic Traveler: Photo Contest

It's that time again - National Geographic Traveler is accepting submissions for its annual photo contest. They've made some changes to the competition this year, splitting it into two categories (amateur and professional), partnering with Photo District News and allowing online submissions for the first time.

They've also introduced an entry fee ($10 per submission for amateurs, $35 for pros and $25 for students), which will probably cut down on the people like me who, in the past, have just sent in a few photos on a whim and the off-chance that everyone else's photos would suck that year. Yeah, that never really worked out for me.

At any rate, the prizes are - as always - fabulous looking, and I'm coveting them. I don't think I have anything worth sending in this year, but do you? Go for it, and good luck.

Preservation Hall Reopens in New Orleans

My very favorite spot in all of New Orleans when I was there in 1999 (my only visit to the city so far) was Preservation Hall on St. Peter Street in the French Quarter. I went there each night of my four-night stay, and probably could have gone for a week straight and not been tired of it.

The music is, obviously, amazing - but more than that, the whole feel of the place is addictive. The walls look like they’ve been collecting dirt and sweat since the doors first opened. The hall not only doesn’t serve alcohol, they don’t allow any food or beverages in the building at all - so it’s not the kind of place you’ll find spillover frat party-boys from Bourbon Street (thank goodness). The seating is minimal and uncomfortable (no mean feat), and they kick people out after each set to let in a new crowd, because the line is already stretching down the block.


The doorway to the hall is marked by one of the most nondescript "signs" in New Orleans. from here

And after the hurricanes of late summer last year, the hall was closed indefinitely.

Imagine my delight, then, when a friend forwarded this article to me last week. If I didn’t already want desperately to return to New Orleans, this news would have been what made me want to go: Preservation Hall finally reopened during this year’s Jazz Fest.

Like much of the French Quarter, the hall was spared the brunt of the devastating flooding that destroyed so much of the city; although five of the seven musicians in the hall Band lost their homes. The reopened hall has reportedly changed its style a bit by incorporating other musical styles than traditional New Orleans jazz, though those who run the hall maintain that all the musicians recently featured on the stage: “had ‘very strong ties to New Orleans.’” The article also says the hall will be breaking from its pre-hurricane schedule, as well, because of “concerns that there still might not be enough local support to keep the hall afloat once Jazzfest’s crowds dispersed. After [Jazz Fest weekend] Preservation Hall will feature music on Friday and Saturday nights — it used to close only on Mardi Gras — and will likely continue to court younger audiences, as a matter of survival.”


The interior of the hall, sans musicians and the hordes of fans. from here

But even beyond surviving, it’s possible – and I say “possible,” as I’m sure there will be purists who disagree, after they’ve come down from the high of Preservation Hall reopening at all – that a change in musical direction is part of what the hall is all about. Sure, I’d like to think that things can be put back exactly as they were in a city so important to American history and culture, and yet I don’t think I’m being defeatist or pessimistic – but, rather, realistic – when I say that nothing will ever be the same in New Orleans. As the hall’s director said at Jazz Fest:

“‘Why wouldn’t Preservation Hall do a project with Tom Waits?’ … ‘Or Bruce Springsteen? Or even the Edge, like we did the other day? I don’t think I’m compromising the integrity of the band, as long as I’m staying true to the vision of Preservation Hall, which was originally, and always has been, to provide a place for New Orleans jazz musicians to perform.’”


This is the band as it looked when I saw them in 1999 - including banjoist Narvin Kimball on the far right, who died this past March at the age of 97. from here

Only time will tell whether Preservation Hall is able to maintain itself in these post-hurricane days of fewer tourists to the region, let alone climb back to its former only-closing-on-Mardi-Gras schedule. I know it’s too soon to declare victory, to say that anything has really been solved, but I can’t help but think that the reopening of Preservation Hall is a good sign.

And for a couple interactive tidbits about Preservation Hall:

• For a fabulous video - which looks like it was filmed from the front-row “floor” seats of the hall - of The Edge performing a jazzed-up version of “Vertigo” with the Preservation Hall Band, check out this page. And to anyone using anything but Explorer 6.0, you’ve got to succumb for just this video. Then go back to your Firefox or Avant. The brief sacrifice is worth it. Trust me.
• There’s a great interactive tour on this page, complete with photos and a floor map of the building housing the hall.
  

Promises, Promises...

So, I don't know why it hadn't occurred to me until yesterday afternoon to look up "Tour de France" and "Giro d'Italia" (among other cycling things) on Wikipedia, but after I read the entries and saw the references to the others, I decided it would be a bit of recreating the wheel for me to write a Cycling 101 like I'd originally planned. I'll still try to capture all the most important bits in one place, but I have to say that's a heck of a lot easier than writing the whole thing myself. I don't know who wrote the cycling stuff on Wikipedia, but it's all great - and thank you.

Now, for the Giro's first stage this morning...

Unlike the Tour's first day, today was called "Stage One" instead of a "Prologue," despite the fact that it was a mere 6.2km time trial course. Because it was so short, it's hard to extrapolate anything really meaningful from today's results... And yes, I'm saying that principally because My Boyfriend didn't do as well as I wanted him to.

As last year's winner, Paolo Savoldelli (Team Discovery) rode last - and promptly spanked the rest of the field by beating his nearest opponent by a full 11 seconds. He was the only rider to complete the course in under eight minutes. It was truly an impressive ride, especially considering he'd recently suffered from tummy troubles in the Tour of Romandie (gastro-intestinal problems are not uncommon among cyclists during long stage races, and one day of a bad stomach can take you from the top spot to the bottom in a hurry).

My man, Ivan Basso (Team CSC), is one of the favorites this year, and though he didn't make a terribly impressive show today, he didn't do too badly. He ended up 23 seconds back from Savoldelli, which certainly isn't insurmountable... My guess is today's defeat is more psychological than anything else. Other Italians to watch in this year's race are Damiano Cunego (who won the Giro in 2004 and finished 25 seconds back today) and Gilberto Simoni (who won the Giro in 2001 and 2003 and finished 26 seconds back today). One rider who, in my opinion, doesn't usually manage to live up to the long-term expectations of a three-week Grand Tour is Danilo di Luca - he finished 19 seconds back today, though, so who knows what 2006 holds for him?

The best news for cycling fans is that it looks like it will be an exciting Giro, and will probably be the last week of racing that will determine the winner. Hallelujah for the start of the Grand Tours! Man, I love this season.

Wireless With a View

Chris is, at this very moment, in a large, windowless room full of other businessmen at a two-day meeting. I, on the other hand, am sitting in a lovely lounge overlooking the Columbia River Gorge taking advantage of the free wireless network provided by the Lodge, waiting to check into the room. I've got lots of writing to do (see below), so I won't be taking advantage of every amenity this place has to offer, but I'd like to take a walk around the grounds at some point today - it's an absolutely beautiful day in an absolutely beautiful spot. Poor Chris.

Tomorrow, May 6, the Giro d'Italia begins its three-week run around Italy. We'll miss the prologue since we'll still be out here, but I'm looking forward to seeing My Boyfriend kick everyone's ass this year. In anticipation of the upcoming Tour de France, I've been slowly working on a Cycling 101 piece so y'all know what in the hell I'm talking about. I'm hoping to make some serious headway on it this weekend (when I tear myself away from the view and the spa, that is), though it still won't be in time for the start of the Giro. My apologies. In the meantime, please enjoy the Wikipedia entries about the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia.

KATRINA: FEMA Abandons Recovery Office in New Orleans

From today's American Progress Report:

KATRINA -- FEMA ABANDONS RECOVERY OFFICE IN NEW ORLEANS: In Sept. 2005, President Bush stood in Jackson Square in downtown New Orleans and pledged, "We will do what it takes, we will stay as long as it takes, to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives." Nearly eight months later, "Housing remains in short supply, only a handful of public schools have reopened and many neighborhoods resemble ghost towns." The Bush administration's response is to cut and run; FEMA is closing its long-term recovery office in New Orleans. FEMA says it is leaving because it's tired of waiting for a plan from city officials. But "[o]ne major hold-up was the late release of FEMA's flood elevation advisories," WWL reports, "which offer guidelines on how high homeowners should raise their homes to qualify for flood insurance." The advisories were issued last week, months late. New Orleans officials say they need federal help to pay for the planning efforts, and the former director of the FEMA's recovery office "made a verbal promise to city officials to fund the effort." In fact, "[s]everal employees of the disbanded office agreed [that the city needs federal assistance], saying that at the beginning the office worked closely with city officials, helping implement their plans." Now that promise has been broken.

This Year's Travel Dilemma

Before I begin, I want to acknowledge that these are good problems to have. We are very lucky to have such problems, and I will try to never take them for granted.

That said, we're currently going through the "where shall we go on holiday this year?" conversation. There are obviously the places we've been before and would like to see again (my cousins' house in the south of France, Tobermory in Scotland, pretty much anywhere in Italy) - but, as always, there are the countless places we've not yet seen. High on that list for both of us is Croatia (we heard raves about it last year in Berlin from a Croatian guy Chris was working with), and another destination I'd like to see sooner rather than later is China. (Chris, though he's already been a few times, is also interested in finally getting to be a tourist there.)

I don't think Asia is going to work out this year for us, mostly because of conflicting events at work (mine) with already scheduled Asia travel (Chris'). So we'll probably be in Europe this year - we might have to toss a coin to help us decide where to go, but, again, these are good problems to have.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Happiest of happy days to my fabulous mother, after whom I would be proud to model myself.

More on New Orleans' Jazz Fest

James Tata posted a link to an article about this year's Jazz Fest, but more broadly about the city in general. The excerpt he posted is great (I haven't read the whole article yet), and the passage that really caught my eye is this (my emphasis):

But Donald Harrison, well known as both a jazz saxophonist and the Congo Nation big chief, sees the moment as pivotal. "What's happening in New Orleans right now is a test for the soul of America," he said ... "If we say the cultural roots of this city are unimportant, then America is unimportant."

Amen to that.

New Orleans Jazz Fest: Springsteen's Performance

From today's American Progress Report:

Bruce Springsteen plays New Orleans at "the biggest musical happening since Katrina struck last summer." "I saw sights I never thought I'd see in an American city," he said. "The criminal ineptitude makes you furious." He then "launched into a song titled 'How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?' and dedicated the song to 'President Bystander.'"