Monday, March 20, 2006

My Favorite Article of the Year (so far)

I can't believe it. Someone actually wrote the article that has been bouncing around in my head for the past 4 years.

Read this!

In a similar vein, I was listening to KFOG the other morning when the news with Peter Finch came on. He usually does the "he said, she said" type of news. You know, "the While House claims 'X', while the Democrats say 'Y'." It's a great way to avoid doing any research and reporting...just repeat what each side says and you move on. There is no check to see if 'X' or 'Y' has any truth to it.
Anyway, the topic was the Feingold Censure resolution and how the Democrats want to censure the president for breaking the law. The "she said" part was a VP Cheney quote saying "if Al Qiada is talking to someone in this country, we want to listen."

And then we moved on to some other story.
Here's what pissed me off.
NOBODY DISAGREES WITH WHAT THE VICE PRESIDENT SAID!
(scary thought, I know)

Political Housekeeping

I've been trying to wrap my head around what's been going on in the world over these past couple of weeks and it's been getting me down.
With the 3rd anniversary of the Iraq War, the Russ Feingold Censure resolution (and subsequent fear of it by the DC Democratic party), and the "discussion" with my bro-in-law over political issues ringing around in my brain, I just couldn't figure out a way to express the frustration I was feeling.
If the president was still experiencing 60%+ approval ratings, I would just blame it on those misguided fools who still support the guy. But that's not the case.

There's a strong feeling of frustration among the activists, bloggers, and pretty much everyone else that's paying attention, here among the left. It's as if the party leaders in DC still think that playing nice and accommodating will be the ticket to success in November.
The Daily Show had a great bit on this last week. They interviewed one of these "political consultants" and the guy basically said "well, the Republicans are doing so crappy, it's better to sit back and watch them implode."

The response?
"I was getting mugged the other day, and this bum was hitting me over the head with a bottle. I just lay there and did nothing and thought, 'Eventually he will hit himself with that bottle.' And he did--it was after I was unconscious, but I think I won that battle."


Now on to the Feingold Censure resolution:
Do it. There is no down-side.
All I've been hearing for the past 2 years is that the Democrats don't stand for anything. They have no ideas. All not true, of course, but now that a Democrat is standing for something and presenting bold ideas, it's like the party establishment has a case of the vapours and needs to sit down for a spell. Ok, let me turn it over to some people who can express this better than I.

Digby
One of my favorite writers.
Here's his take on the latest "air assault on Iraq" from the other day.

Here's another perspective on this:
From the Unclaimed Territory blog by Glenn Greenwald
Here's Glenn on his latest project...

That's basically how I'm feeling.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Lonely Planet Blue List


Lonely Planet had this competition where readers submitted their "Blue-Lists"...and what's a blue list? Well, basically it's a list (duh) of things, travel related, that...heck, just read for yourself.

So, I created this list and worked on it for a few days, fine tuning it, deleting sentences, changing the order, you know, the usual stuff, and finally got ready to submit it. I was excited.
So, I go to the blue-list page and see that the "competition is over" which wasn't that big a deal, but I did want to be included in the "competition".
Ok, broken-hearted, I proceeded to enter my list into their form, following directions closely and I kept getting kicked out of the system.
"Too many characters" said the template. So I looked around and checked a lot of other lists and realized that my list was actually (and literally) shorter than some others, so I was quite perplexed. I re-started my computer, changed browsers from Safari to Firefox and nothing worked. I even sent an email to Lonely Planet, but nothing has worked so far.
So, for your reading pleasure, I humbly submit my blue list here:


Not Your Standard Vacation Photos
(or “what did we see on the way to the Louvre?”)

1) Food
“What did we have at that little café in the alley? Oh, yeah, that onion soup…wasn’t it great? Let me see that picture…Wow, Remember those tablecloths! I started making stupid jokes about the pattern and the waiter thought we were laughing at him. I had totally forgotten about that!”
I’ve been taking pictures of the meals, restaurants (inside and out) and menus for our last 3 major trips. The photos of the food bring back the smells, sights, tastes and feelings of the whole dining experience…good and bad.


2) Hotel
Sure, many of them are generic, have views of the pool or a parking lot, feature no lobby and rooms with so little character that you could be in Topeka or Cape Town, but…you spend as much time in your room as you do seeing the sights.
So open those curtains and take a picture of the mini-mall across the street or the Eiffel Tower off in the distance. Pictures of the room itself also help bring back many memories. (Remember that ugly carpet?)

3) Locals
Your vacation experiences are the results of many people going about their daily lives, so take a picture of them and add it to your memories.
The lady at the chocolate shop in Paris? Here’s a picture.
The couple in Singapore that sold us the silk? Here they are.
Our tour guide for the ruins at Monte Alban? Here he is.
Remember the guy and girl who drove us to Stonehenge? Here we are with them.
Here’s a group of schoolchildren on a field trip. They were all so polite!

4) Animals/Pets
I’m talking about the old man walking his dog (if he says ok), the ducks in the pond, the pigeons at the park, the cats pretty much everywhere, and the sheep grazing in the grass. These are the pictures you’ll take on the way to the Louvre, or as you walk through Hyde Park on your way to see Kensington Palace.
(or Avebury, as in the case of the sheep)

5) Quiet streets
Go off of the beaten path and find where the locals live and shop.
Take a picture of the streets just off Chinatown, where the shops end and it’s just small houses, apartments and no tourists. Take shots of the “Marina-Style” houses with the big bay windows, or the dirt road just off the Zocalo, in Oaxaca, where all the homes have rebar sticking out, just in case they decide to add to the house.


We all take pictures of the big things, the stuff that we like to stand in front of and say “I was here” but it’s the smaller things, the things I’ve pointed out above, that can turn your destination from a collection of tourists sights, into a living, breathing place.

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Truth In Advertising (Restaurant Review)

House of Prime Rib.

That pretty much says it all. You want some prime rib, go to the House Of.
You don't want/like prime rib? Watch the rest of your tablemates eat it and hope that the fish special is ok, but don't get your hopes up too high.

It's one of those "Ye Olde Tavern" themed places. Very old-school. Men's Clubby. You can feel the scotch and sexual harassment when you slide in to the worn leather booths.
The service was good. Quite professional and a little bit showy. They prepare the salad (included in the price of the meal) at the table...tossed and spun, holding the dressing high and letting it slowly enter the lettuce. And you get a new chilled fork too.

I love prime rib, and they do it well here. My bro-in-law got an end piece and it looked and tasted great, while I had a normal rare-looking hunk and loved it as well.
Thick, juicy and served with two sides (creamed spinach and mashed potatoes) you'll never go hungry at the HoPR. Another side dish included is the Yorkshire Pudding. Basically a savory pancake-ish item. Not as exciting as it sounds, but not bad either.
But it's not cheap. About 30 bucks for a nice piece of meat.

They serve the prime rib from these giant metal carts that look like a cross between the Hindenburg and an Airstream Trailer.
The cart is wheeled to the table and the prime rib is cut right there for you. It's a cool concept.


Overall a very satisfying experience. Well, there was the heated political argument between me and my brother-in-law.
My BIL is a Republican, but is not too happy with Dubya at this point, nor is he happy with much of the GOP these days. He's slowly coming around and we'll take everything we can at this point. He's more of an old-school Libertarian now.
See, he believes that France is our "enemy" while I said that he listens to too much talk radio. I kept saying "seriously, France is our enemy?"
Eventually I got him to admit his feelings were quite Jr. High School regarding this.
Basically his point was "France thinks it's all hot 'n shit but who do they think they are!?"
The louder "discussion" was based on the NSA spy scandal. I was surprised to hear him and his wife both say "I don't have a problem with the gov't spying on US citizens without any warrants. And if you have a problem with it you must have something to hide."


All I countered with was the Constitution, Soviet Russia, Law and Order (not the show) and basically said that I wasn't so afraid of terrorists that I'm willing to ignore existing laws and put every US citizen under suspicion.
I even asked the Ben Franklin question:
"Are you willing to give up Freedom and Liberty for security?"
Yes, was the answer. I was shocked and quite upset, but after 5 minutes of cooling off time and dessert, we moved to a subject that we could all agree upon:
Gay Marriage (we're all in favor of it).

So, in summary, HoPR:
A great place to take visitors. I go about every other year.

NSA spying scandal:
Illegal

Gay Marriage:
A-ok

France:
I have no problems with sovereign nations (with democratically elected governments) looking out for themselves and their citizens.