He's still got it...

Paul McCartney performs the Ed Sullivan Theater... roof. I say he's still got it... but admittedly I'm a bit biased. I'm headed to see Macca at Fenway August 6th, and I can't wait.

Trip Day 1: Baltimore

I thought I would take some time to post some of the photos that Kate and I took during our D.C./ Baltimore/ Maryland trip over the 4th of July weekend. On the third we spent the day with two of Kate's college friends, and her former roommates in Baltimore. We started by meeting up with them in their trendy neighborhood "Hampden" in North Baltimore. They have a small, but spacious town house apartment on a street abutting "The Avenue" or 36th street. The feeling of the area is both quaint and bohemian, and it is surprisingly serene for such an urban setting. After some hot dogs for lunch and chips and salsa we headed out on our tour.
This first picture is "The original Washington Monument". It is deemed the original by Baltimoreans because it predates the D.C. monument by 20 years. We didn't make the hike to the top because ironically it was closed for the one holiday that it perhaps should have been open for. Next to the monument is the attractive church seen below, Mt. Vernon Place Church. I believe I'm getting the name correct, however I'm not 100% sure. Internet links lead to two churches with a similar name, this one, and a church that has a more Romanesque type of architecture. Perhaps one is new and the other old? Regardless, it is a pretty building.

The next picture looks out at Baltimore from Federal Hill Park. A point of note is how the cannon appears to be aimed towards downtown. Common sense would suggest that this was to guard the inner harbor, however apparently history dictates that it was intended as a threat to Baltimore to remain loyal to the Union during the Civil War.

This next picture is a walking bridge in the inner harbor that is rather flexible. Adam seen behind me, was bouncing to make the bridge wobble as we passed over it. The building behind the bridge is the National Aquarium.

Kate striking a pose in the inner harbor in front of the USS Constellation, a Civil war era boat.

Next is seen the Seven Foot Knoll Light, an interesting looking light house that has been moved into the Inner Harbor, and is now a museum.... which was of course closed.
This is a look out across the harbor, note the Domino Sugar plant across the water, and the dragon shaped paddle boats.

This weird looking fountain near the water front is rather interactive, in that you can walk through paths and cat walks that meander through it. I'm not sure how I feel about all of the blue paint. The strong chlorine smell coupled with the paint had me anticipating a waterslide appearing around a corner.

Our tour guides Adam & Sarah within the unusual fountain.
Last on the tour we went to a site that Adam & Sarah themselves had not yet seen. Edgar Allen Poe's grave. The grave yard was very old and rather unusual looking. Strangely a church was built on top of the pre-existing grave yard. The neighborhood was a little rough around the edges, however I'm glad we made the decision to check it out. Note the bottle of liquor on top of Poe's headstone.

After a healthy dose of walking and riding Baltimore's light rail system, we headed back to Hampden. Adam & Sarah brought us to The Golden West, which is an eclectic eatery with miss-matched furniture and a bright colored decor. It reminds me of Portsmouth NH's The Friendly Toast, or Portland ME's Silly's (although it is tough to reproduce Silly's "patio"). The food was great at the Golden West, however the staff was really burnt out. First of all, the hostess acted like a ten minute wait was going to be a huge inconvenience when we walked in, almost seeming to suggest that we might not be able to hang in there until we got a table. The weirdness did not end there, when our waitress could not figure out why we wanted another chair when 3 of us at our table were all squeezed into a booth bench, while only Sarah sat in a chair on the opposite side. Then later I approached one of the staff to ask where the rest room is and she gave me a look that said "who are you, and why are you talking to me?" When she realized that I wasn't coming on to her, or whatever it was that she thought I was there for (I can only speculate), she paused and said "Oh..... umm ok, its like around the corner?" I only put the question mark, because it is the best way I can conceive of to replicate the upward lilt in her voice. Our hostess and our waitress both had these rather painful looking tattoos on their wrists, and were dressed in the standard long flowing patchouli stink attire. They had to have been stoned on the job, either that or they have done some serious irreparable damage to their noggins.

The staff were more entertaining than anything, and the food was great. I had a turkey burger... which was much better than I can potentially describe it as. I'm not sure I can make a turkey burger sound really good, but it was, you'll just have to trust me. Additionally I had a vegan cole slaw which was in a nice spicy vinaigrette in place of mayo.

After eating our fill we headed back to Adam & Sarah's, talked for quite a while, and enjoyed watching their goofy cats frolic around.

By 11:00 we were en route to the hotel to prepare for our trip into D.C. on the fourth.

Proving that the public plan ISN'T about competition

Emanuel faces liberal pressure over 'trigger' comments (CNN)

"Emanuel's apparent suggestion in a Wall Street Journal article published Tuesday that the White House would be willing to consider a "trigger" clause on a public option — to delay full implementation of the plan if insurance companies met certain conditions on coverage and cost — drew outrage from liberal members of Congress and MoveOn.org, which has poured millions of dollars into a campaign supporting the president's health care proposal."

Ironic since the point of this is to improve health care availability and affordability. SO if guidelines are set for private industry to improve health care affordability and they meet them..... WHAT IS THE NEED FOR THE PUBLIC SYSTEM????

Frankly I think the "trigger" plan sucks too because it is still using bureaucracy to over regulate and essentially decrease the quality of health care for most in order to provide it for a small segment of the population, of which many didn't want it to begin with, or just weren't responsible enough to do what it takes to get it to begin with. If you have a choice for health care vs. cable TV, booze, and cigarettes, and other stuff you might not need.... and you choose the latter, then quite frankly I think you should pay the price and be a recipient of poor health care. And it will be poor health care, not an absence of health care as the widespread public misconception suggests.

If she had been called at 3:00 AM

Officials: Clinton Pressed Obama to Take Harder Line on Iran
"Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged President Obama for two days to toughen his language on Iran before he did so, and then was surprised when he condemned Iran's crackdown on demonstrators last week, the Washington Times reported administration officials as saying."

Just wanted to let everyone know that I will be away on vacation until the 9th, when I'll resume the blogging. I'm headed down to DC for the 4th, perhaps I'll see the Obama's out on the lawn with Bo? Probably not.

Hope everyone has a fine weekend!!

RIP King of Pop

Well I can't say I was particularly surprised by the death of Michael Jackson, but it does seem quite surreal. As a small child he was my idol, as an adult, I abhorred him, whether it be the troubling allegations or his reputation of stabbing anyone in the back including his own family. As a Beatles fan, and in particular a McCartney fan his low blows were particularly cold.

His death is a shame. He was such a troubled person, I can't imagine him ever being happy, except for perhaps in the moment. Many people would dismiss him as a monster, and perhaps they are right. But a vicious dog is typically an abused and neglected dog. For the short term, while respect for his family should be important, perhaps in time we will learn more about the origins of MJ's obvious madness. I think it is an important story to be told.

All controversy aside, the fact that the Thriller album has eclipsed the controversy and held on to its power, speaks volumes about his artistic genius.

I am fixated on the coverage, perhaps in a morbid sort of a way, but really, it has just brought back all these memories of dancing in my bedroom as a kid. I feel as though one more tether to my childhood has been severed, and that I had forgotten it was even there.