A stroll in the Parks

Ostend! The Real Belgium countryside?

2011-10-20T22:40:00.001-04:00

After our morning in Bruges, we boarded a train to the North Sea. At the end of the line, Ostend is a city on the northern coast of Belgium. The enclosed harbor in the photo above greeted us at the footsteps of a dated train station. Due to harsh weather that probably lasts 3 quarters of the year, the Belgian coast is largely modern, unlike Bruges. Ostend apparently did not gain much importance or size until the 18th century. Kate had read about the Belgian coast and it seemed somewhat romanticized in many of the reviews and blogs kicking around the internet. We decided it would make an unusual side trip. The church below, Sint-Petrus-en-Pauluskerk, is very impressive to behold but actually is fairly new in terms of European Gothic cathedrals.

The North Sea below does not look very inviting. The water is very brown, I suspect to some degree it may be due to a lack of plant life/ algae relative to what I'm used to seeing elsewhere. Kate and I both made a point to touch it. It was pretty cool, maybe 50s F, or low 60s, and the wind was really kicking up across the water. There were some children running around, but Ostend was pretty dead. What we've understood to be a thriving tourist area during the summer, still had not kicked into gear. It did have a romance to it in a sense. The North coast is not a destination for people from the U.S., but rather is a playground for people who are relatively locale, and is apparently also popular with the British.

The boardwalk is spectacular, it did seem somewhat difficult to imagine it being warm there, but I tried hard to imagine some roller bladers coming by taking in the sun with out a care.

Below is the esplanade which is part of the Thermae Palace Hotel, once a major tourist destination is now generally thought to need a renovation. The architecture is rather grand, but something about it seems almost barrack like, it is sort of cold and foreboding.

Below is a casino/ entertainment center, I don't know if there was some sort of discount on white concrete when they built all these buildings, but I suppose it sort of blends in with the sand and the brown surf.

That dog is totally thinking this would be much better if I had a......

Waffle!!!! Tah dah! These totally lived up to my expectations. Awesome... Awesome... Awesome... and the ones Kate and I got were hot and fresh, not like the stacks of them we saw in touristy places everywhere in Bruges. I asked the woman running the shop how the Belgians preferred them, she was too eager to please and kept rattling off all different combinations. And I pressed that I wanted it like what the average people would get, and reluctantly she admitted plain, which I suspected from what I had read. So plain it was.

Kate of course had to have the chocolate, and you can tell from her smile that she wouldn't have wanted the waffle any other way. And what better to wash it down with than a lovely tooth rotting Coke Light. Mmmmm Mmm!

More beach sights, doesn't that just make you want to get your Boogie board and bathing suit?

Below is the road that led from the train station to the water. In the distance you can get a grasp of the dike that the boardwalk is built on. The water really does seem higher than the main land here and it creates a rather eerie effect walking up to it. These streets are filled with dull modern apartments and condos. Something about it had a certain retro charm to it and while this photo does not indicate it, there were stretches of this road that had a decent amount of foot traffic.

Some meats and salads inside a deli window. I thought it looked sort of impressive, and I felt like one of those weird tourists taking pictures of odd items.

After a couple hours in Ostend, we waited for a light rail to take us east, up the Belgian coast. Our adventure was just beginning, and will be continued in my next post. I will try to get it posted before my coursework supercedes it in my list of priorities. Stay tuned for Zeebrugge and Knokke.

A Bruges Morning

2011-08-08T23:40:00.003-04:00

We spent the morning checking out some of the churches before we would ultimately head north and see the North Sea and some of the Belgian countryside. Above is a shot of the free breakfast (included breakfast I should say) spread. I enjoyed my boiled eggs, fruit, breads, cheeses and assorted meats. Thank you Hotel Europ.

A shot inside the room. Nightstand complete with a circa-1970s radio that no longer worked. Nice vintage wall paneling. The hotel room was actually nice all joking aside. New carpets, clean, updated bathroom, etc.The next series of photos are from the "Church of Our Lady" a magnificent cathedral built in stages between the 12th and 15th centuries. Notably a Michelangelo statue of the Madonna and Child reside within the church. It is the only Michelangelo piece to leave Italy during Michelangelo's lifetime.

The Madonna of Bruges is shown below. It is unfortunately behind a layer of glass, although this photo which Kate took came out fairly decent.

Inside the of the Basilica of the Holy Blood. This is a pilgrimage site where they claim to have an actual vial of the blood of Jesus Christ. In the Middle Ages such "relics" were popular means to draw people into a church, hoping to be bestowed good luck, or to pray for miracles. We were waiting to see the "blood" itself. There is a weekly ceremony where it is brought out, and people may wait in line to lay their hands on this holy object. I decided to sit this one out and watch the spectacle, however Kate did wait in line to experience this ritual and lay her hands on a vial of "The Precious Blood". By her description she said it was basically a vial or reddish looking dirt, which I suppose is what I would expect really old blood to look like- although I suspect in all likelihood it would more than likely just end up being a stain on the inside of the glass since it should be primarily water. The most unusual claim made by the church is that it miraculously turns to liquid once a year on the same day.

I enjoyed watching the reaction of the public and the priest/ bishop who was showing the blood. I began imagining that the holy man was preoccupied casting judgement on who was a believer and who was a curious tourist. For some he had very warm smiles and greetings, for others he just nodded and seemed to hurry them along. I suppose the truth of the matter was it was I who was judging, but it was a good way of passing the time while watching Kate wait in line.

The Romanesque looking church below was the lower level of the Basilica. There were several graves of notable beneficiaries to the church inside. It wasn't difficult to imagine someone sitting at a pew in a suit of armor.

The color inside the Basilica chapel (below) was fantastic, and really added something when you compare it to the cold granite and brick that you get so acustomed to in cathedrals.

Last item on our agenda before hoping on a train to the North Sea was hitting up the chocolate shops that Belgium is so famous for. Kate was in here for about 20 minutes picking out the perfect presents for her coworkers and Mom. There was a lot to choose from, but I did my best not to get overwhelmed with the options ;)

Evening in Bruges

2011-07-26T23:50:00.011-04:00

The thing about writing in these travel-blog entries is I can never add quite enough detail to do the experiences justice. Bruges was spectacular, these swans were in the canal immediately in front of our Hotel. You can't really tell from the photo above, but there is actually a swanling on top of the mother (I assume) swan's back. We stayed at Hotel Europ, which I would highly recommend to anyone who visited. It is somewhat of Budget hotel, but it was far more posh than our lodgings in Amsterdam (which served its purpose despite certain things it lacked). Our room was a bit more affordable because it did not sport a canal view. Kate and I figured we weren't in Bruges to spend time in a room so this was just fine. It was clean, had a great free breakfast, (excellent meats, bread, boiled eggs, and fruit). A comfortable small room, nice bathroom with a fitting decor that seemed appropriate for Bruges.

A better view of the canal below.

Notice Kate in the photo below trucking along towards the hotel. Almost there Kate!

Below is the Bruges city hall in The Burg square. This is a short distance from the hotel and where we would be catching a bus back to the train station instead of trying to repeat our "arrival" experience of navigating the cobblestones, suitcases in hand.

After settling into the hotel, using the facilities, and Kate checking out what stations were available on the television we went and found some sustenance in the town. Bistro Lily with its al fresco dining immediately caught our eye. They had Belgian fries with mayo, nice looking sandwiches, and beer.... ahhh beer. Belgian beer! I had a crab sandwich which seemed to be popular- it was "faux" crab, and I knew this going into the arrangement, yet it seemed very popular so I gave it a whirl. Aside from the roll it came on, it wasn't all that great, but I ate three quarters of it. The beer and fries more than made up for it. I can't remember what brand I had off hand (sadly) but it was something I could not get in the states, and it was mighty tasty.

The photo below is a public fish market that unfortunately was not operating when we strolled by. I thought it was photo-worthy regardless.The photo below is the Beguinage, a community of women who have devoted their life to charity and God. This particular community was one of the only remaining communities of this type which is still active. Descriptions of the community are quick to point out that these women are not "nuns". This is probably one of the more beautiful and tranquil places I have ever been. The photo does it no justice. The trees were enormous and permanently leaning from winds that must be quite unrelenting in the sky of Bruges. The breeze, undulating through the leaves made a hypnotic sound that could have had me lying in the grass, gazing up through the branches without much thought to the time I might be wasting. The photo above is Jeruzalemkerk, Kate and I would have loved the chance to explore all of these, but we had the unfortunate luck of being here on a Monday when many of the churches and tourist sites are closed. We would have to fit in some priorities on Tuesday, however we wanted to venture into the Belgian countryside as well so time was limited.

The gate below was near the Beguinage, (Begijnhof- Dutch). The area outside the community was as captivating as the serene area of solitude within. Otherworldly is a descriptor that is lacking in every sense.The photo below is the back side of a complex adjacent to the Basilica of the Holy Blood. This is a pilgrimage site, and we would be taking this site in with more scrutiny later in our stay.The church above is St. Anne's church and it is located in what was once a poorer immigrant community. This once down-and-out neighborhood was a little more my style than De Pijp.WINDMILL!!! There are supposedly 4 of these in Bruges, however since they are far apart we managed to take in two of them. I wanted to climb up to the top of this one, and I probably would have, but Kate had this idea that we were going to get arrested. In truth that stairway was fiercely steep and the whole windmill swiveled slightly so it wasn't the most safe activity to do. If I was younger I would have done it in a heart beat. Lately I'm too much of a klutz so I had visions of myself breaking my neck, and I smartly avoided this.The gate above is one of the old medieval city gates. Complete with outlets designed to facilitate the dumping of hot oil on some jerk you don't want barging in without proper credentials.

So Rick Steves is an ass. Kate had a "Rick Steves" travel guide to Bruges that told us that the city didn't wake up till 10:00 and that was when we should get dinner. In fact just the opposite was true- so much so that this stupid Pizza Hut was the only place save a couple of bars, that was open. My idea of fine Belgian ale with roasting meat, or pots of mussels would have to wait an evening. Instead we had a pepperoni pizza with cheese bread sticks. The weird thing here is they served the bread sticks with ketchup and salsa (no sauce). We asked for some marinara sauce and the waitress looked at us like we had three heads- who knew this was the custom? I had a large beer which was essentially the size of a pitcher. It was just sort of a pilsner, and I've been trying to google what it was, and for the life of me I can't find it. I should have carried a notepad to record all of these important details. Pizza Hut by the way seems to be universally rated one star by people who have been there.

Bruges at night is just fabulous- enchanting. It was quiet, and we felt like we were on an adventure lurking around the old stone masterpieces in the dark, alone with the spirits.

Whooo too much Belgian beer makes for bad photography!!!! These nighttime shots are incredibly difficult to take, especially with my 5 year old digital camera. I'm pretty proud of this one below- it looks photo shopped.

Onward to Bruges

2011-07-26T00:54:00.006-04:00

The next day of the trip was one spent partly in transit to Bruges, Belgium. This photograph below was taken at a train station in Ghent (Gent) where we needed to transfer. The train below I believe was a "local" we were on a more long-distance, high speed line. We rushed through Centraal station in Amsterdam but had enough layover in Ghent to grab some drinks and croissants before heading on the next leg of the journey. When we arrived in Bruges we had a little bit of difficulty figuring out what side of the train station to exit to go towards the center of the town. Once we managed to ascertain that this was the street that took us towards our destination. Aside from the cars, it was other worldly, very medieval looking and serene (a nice change from Amsterdam).

Our trek was not without obstacles, while our hotel wasn't terribly far from the train station, we underestimated the difficulty of towing our suitcases down the cobblestone, and we did manage to get a little lost on the way. As you move further into the town the roads get pretty windy, and intuition isn't going to get you far. We didn't have a good map, and were getting side tracked frequently, because the signage on the old streets was hit or miss.

The video here is a church that we stumbled upon while searching for the hotel. It was a nice distraction. I wanted to try and capture the experience that was the Bruges streets so I recorded this short clip of the bells. Note the horse hooves hitting the cobblestone in the background.This is heading towards the main square in Bruges, the tower ahead is the city hall.

One of Bruges canals, strikingly different than those in Amsterdam, they are narrower generally and often have vegetation and gardens wedged between the water and buildings. Another canal below in a more residential area.

There was a carnival going on in Bruges which was sort of interesting. I can imagine some people might have been put off if they were coming there for the untouched old world atmosphere, but Kate & I felt it added to the experience, as it seemed to be primarily attended by locals, and not tourists.

I'll start off the next post with the hotel, and then finish it out with our continued touring of Bruges.

End of the Keukenhof Day: Hooligans!

2011-07-20T01:36:00.004-04:00

After leaving the Keukenhof Kate and I made the fateful mistake of missing our transfer stop on the train back to Amsterdam. The result dropped us off at the Amsterdam football (soccer) stadium where the Amsterdam team had just won the National championship for the first time in 15 years. Now if I don't stop and think about how that probably means they beat 4 or 5 other teams from much smaller metropolitan areas, it kind of seems impressive. Regardless the fans were on the brink of a riot and it was cool to see. They were singing, shooting off fireworks and rocking the trains when they arrived in the station. Kate and I were on alert, but were unscathed and were glad to have experienced this.

On the way into the city on a packed train a Dutch gentleman explained the championship to us and warned us to be on guard when we got back in town because there could be violence. The city was electric when we got back and we did see police in riot gear everywhere buzzing along in armored vans. For the most part fans were just loud and jubilant, and all dressed in red bearing the XXX symbol of Amsterdam. This symbol is not what you'd think but rather represents the coat of arms of Amsterdam, 3 silver St. Andrew's crosses, any other suggestion is an unfortunate coincidence (or fortunate dependent upon your perspective).Kate and I wanted to wait for the crowds to thin out a bit so we decided to seek out some activities on the fringes of the center city. This is the "Skinny Bridge" that goes over the Amstel River and is considered to be one of the more picturesque. It actually isn't skinny- and while it stands apart from other bridges in the city, I think Kate and I both thought there were prettier bridges. Apparently the Magere Brug, as it is properly named, used to be skinny to the point where it was just a pedestrian bridge wide enough for one person, but it has been rebuilt.

Kate decided that we should explore one of Amsterdam's "up and coming" hipster sort of neighborhood. (Think Williamsburg in NYC). De Pijp is named for its long straight streets that run parallel, contrary to the hub like rounded streets that are common through the rest of the central city. It was built as a working class community. It appears to be dirty and quite frankly still a slum to me, although there were a couple sections that were more vibrant such as the area where the Moorish columns above were located. That section had a nice square with many sidewalk cafes/ restaurants. It may have been the hooligans chanting off in the distance, the copious amounts of graffiti, how sections of this area seem deserted, the trash, or the abandoned junked bikes lying around everywhere- but this was the one time in Amsterdam where my concern went a little beyond pickpockets or being bothered by perverts (I had someone following me for a couple blocks in the red like district clearly taunting me with one word that I could understand in his dutch "c*cksucker"). Kate didn't notice this at the time, and likewise, I was alone at feeling uneasy in De Pijp. Regardless we cut our touring short because deserted trash filled streets weren't incredibly interesting. It may have been the evening, but on some level I was souring a little on Amsterdam. I like the idea of working to live, instead of living to work- but I was getting the impression that Amsterdam natives were more into hedonism than quality of life- and had long abandoned any concept that they could improve the latter, rather they just waited for the government to throw them a bone. (Damm square and social protest were inseparable). Depressing on some level. The Heineken plant- time was tight so we didn't tour it. A sort of impressive old building anyway.Some of the revelers above as we headed back into town. Kate and I tried to go to the Begijnhof, a community of nuns which is supposed to be picturesque, however it was closed when we got there, and sufficiently walled such that we really couldn't appreciate it. The door is above. We'd check it out when we came back to Amsterdam prior to heading to Barcelona.

This is Kate looking dejected next to the Begijnhof gate. We walked around for a long time being really indecisive on what to eat later. Sadly it got late and contrary to what you might think, Amsterdam is not a city that never sleeps. After 9-9:30 the restaurants begin to close and you are left with the places that attract those who need to tune out (the coffee houses) or the places for those with the munchies. We found the latter. In the tradition of our fine vacation dining experiences it was a cheap to-order place. I had a rice noodle box with peppers mushrooms, onions, chicken in a black pepper sauce. I think Kate had some sort of sweet and sour rice box. Kate had food envy ;) We sadly discovered that Wok to Walk was a chain- seeing them in both Bruges and Barcelona later. It is what it is ;)

Amsterdam Day II Keukenhof part deux

2011-06-28T22:25:00.005-04:00

And we continue our tour of the Keukenhof- and I've taken these flower shots out of order. I could give the play by play of the day, but in truth it isn't going to make any difference to you, and to me... well- its already a little foggy. I will say that this particular exhibit below, which sort of had a "bridal" theme was seen just prior to our blood sugar dropping to dangerously low levels. Well... my blood sugar at least.Ready to see more flowers?? Well... at this point I needed a drink, Kate kind of looks like she had to much to drink, I caught her mid blink I think.... (ooh a rhyme). We had our first Dutch/Belgium style fries with mayo here, and they lived up to our expectations despite the fact that we bought them from a park's cafeteria. The Heineken, in full disclosure not much better than what it tastes like in the U.S., contrary to popular belief. I really found it to be the same sub-par, cheap beer... marginally better than Budweiser, worse than pretty much everything else I'd drink, Miller High Life, Schlitz, and PBR included. (I've been known to get the latter when ever I see a good deal.. or Schlitz in a bottle... there's just something about it).

Beginning the showcase of out-of-order photographs is Kate standing in the giant wooden shoes. Yes, Kate took some lovely shots of me in the spacious clogs as well... and some strange woman even photo bombs, albeit unintentionally. (I actually just became aware of the term "photo bomb" today and decided to make use of it. Pretty frickin out of it and square huh? Lets face it, the "rube" force has always been strong with me). Lovely masonry by the way.

This is Kate looking depressed near the harvested tulip fields. Sadness. The park was still beautiful. It could have been MORE beautiful, but alas, it was what it was.

Kate sitting in the middle of three purple flower pots.

Disclaimer: the remainder of the photos in this entry were taken by Kate M. Fazio on May 14th, 2011. I can not take any creative licence for these, other than for my strange desire to be photographed next to this clearly AWESOME pained fiberglass elephant.

CUBES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There was an obnoxious family photographing themselves by the cubes- ignoring signs that said don't walk on grass or touch the cubes. The mom was instructing her little boys to pose looking like big strong men holding the cubes up. The boys seemed more interested in kicking them or trying to scale the cubes, which moved violently (I think they were paper mache on a wire frame, made from magazine clippings). We spent some more time regrouping while Kate waited 15 minutes to get this excellent shot. I plan to hang it up next to a great picture of some spray-painted hay bails we saw several years ago in a sculpture garden in Queens ;) .

At this point, we are very much of the mind---- what haven't we seen? Is it time to go? Are we getting tulip gardened out? I think we are. But alas we find this cool maze which was incredibly easy to maneuver- I'm not even sure we took one wrong turn. But don't forget these photos are out of order--- so while this story would soon be ending for me, you are only 3 quarters of the way through, or something like that.

I really like this shot Kate took of the stream. A simple unexceptional scene, yet somehow it stands out to me. I think I just really like how the flowing water is captured amidst the greenery.

WINDMILL! First one we saw, and we even got to climb up to the deck, very cool. We listened to a little abbreviated "history of the windmill" delivered by one of the park employees. Apparently this one was moved here and used to be a grain mill. They give the illusion that it is a mill to pump water, as so many in the Netherlands are, but today it is actually non functional- or it spins, but does not serve a purpose other to look pretty and educate.

These weird flowers are super cool. Kate took a lot of time getting great photos of these. There are several I could have picked from, and I have no idea which shot was the best to use. I used my best judgement.

More harvested fields. I think this is the photo that actually shows one small patch where purple flowers remain, but you can't really tell by looking at it here. We barely could tell in person in all honesty.

Note the canal. While chilling out looking at it we saw a massive 3-4 foot long fish leap out of the water. Probably some sort of invasive carp. It was awesome. Lets hear it for mutant gold fish helping make our day that much more interesting.

Some dweeb smiling in front of azaleas or some sort of pink flowery shrubbery.

I could keep posting pictures of flowers... we certainly took enough, but I think next chapter in this documentation of our 2011 European jaunt will move back to the city.

My moving in stuff is winding down a bit now, really it is. I'll try to get a few posts in the next couple of days. On July 10th I have a work related trip to Japan- so I'll slip into obscurity for a week. But if I get the chance while I'm there, I'll document some of it and try to share.

Till next time,

Amsterdam, Day II Keukenhof

2011-06-24T00:51:00.003-04:00

Kate and I awoke Sunday morning and headed to Centraal Station to get a train out to Schiphol (The Airport) where we picked up a bus to Lisse, home of the Keukenhof, a large garden of tulips and other flowers that operates only in the spring. http://www.keukenhof.nl/

We wolfed down croissants and split what was without a doubt the thickest chocolate milk I've ever consumed. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't what I'm used to, and I can't say I thought it was as good as what comes from adding a little Hershey's syrup into some 1% lowfat milk.

The pictures attached should be self explanatory. This is a taste to start- I have many more pictures that I'll try to apply a narrative in some entries yet to come. I'm still very busy settling into my new house so the progress here has suffered.

I will continue!!!

2011-06-06T23:45:00.002-04:00

I apologize for the interruption in the blog postings on the trip (to all two of you readers... who ever you are). I will continue probably next week. I'm moving, and every night I'm toting dishes, etc over in the back of my car. It is time consuming.

I enjoy the blogging, it is as much for me as a way to document my trip, as it is for anyone who is interested in reading it. So... stay tuned!

Conclusion of the first day in Amsterdam

2011-06-02T23:56:00.007-04:00

After the Vincent Van Gogh Museum Kate and I took in Vondelpark, a large city park in the center of the city. Interestingly the pictures of Amsterdam make it look so much more sleepy than it actually is. The Vondelpark much like the rest of the city was filled with aggressive cyclists. Here we saw children sitting precariously on the handlebars of their parents bicycles, or more commonly we would see trailers for bikes towing small children. None of whom were strapped in or wearing helmets. The beauty of a less regulated society.Kate next to a weird looking sculpture, I guess its some sort of bird? Photographing some abstract and insignificant public art piece tends to be something that Kate and I do routinely on our trips. Kate and I appreciated watching the families frolic on the playground. One thing we really did not capture is how the lack of law suits probably contributes to playgrounds that are much more fun than their American equivalents. High up rope jungle gyms, aggressive looking swings, and teeter totters abound, where these sorts of things have all long been ripped out in states because kids would almost certainly misuse them and of course this would have nothing to do with negligent parenting or a lack of supervision, and would all be a result of the city, the playground designers, and the manufacturers, who would all be promptly sued.We liked this wading pool- or at least watching the kids play here. It was probably only in the mid 50s Fahrenheit, and here are these kids playing in the water. I think some bystander would have suggested child services take away these children from their families, had this scene unfolded in the United States. The contraption below was a sort of water based toy, you poured water into it and it flowed around the contraption. It was not captured very well here.One of the main pedestrian shopping streets above, and Dam Square below. While Dam Square is one of the more notable locations in Amsterdam it was not my favorite. It had a mix of the sort of street performers you might find at Fanieul Hall (actually they were pretty much a more PG-13 version of the same tired acts), protesters (some social or monetary cause typically), it was loud, dirty, chaotic, and had sort of a dark undertone to it that I thought made it stand apart from other equivalent areas such as the major squares/ plazas in other cities I've been to. We cross this area routinely over the remainder of our time in Amsterdam due to its central location.The Royal Palace of the Netherlands is situated on Dam square.Kate walks through a bank of bikes not far from Centraal Station the main train station and our original arrival point in the city. Below is Sint Nicolaaskerk, a large Catholic Church that we pretty much walked by daily (multiple times) due to its location en route to the Plantage. Here I am with my good friend Rusty the Monkey. Rusty lives near a canal not to far from the Plantage where Kate and I were staying.

It was time to eat and we decided upon an Italian place called Palorma which was almost across the street from our hotel, abutting the Zoo. We were seated upstairs near the back of the restaurant in a nook overlooking some gardens where a cat was up to no good. Hunting for Tweety no doubt.
The food was excellent, really a great stumbled upon place, affordable, great atmosphere. The waitress didn't speak English, I got the feeling she was actually Italian and that Dutch may have been her second language. She was very pleasant and one of her colleagues came up and talked to us briefly. He helped us attract Sylvester's attention long enough to snap a photo of it (I think he thought he was going to get a slice of pizza, perhaps an anchovy?).

See the cat off at the corner of the roof. The cat would frequently jump off, scale fences and bounce around attempting to catch some noisy birds that I'm sure were making a game of taunting it.

It was a long but productive first day in the Netherlands. Kate and I were becoming more zombie like by the minute given our jet-lag, so before we began attacking fellow pedestrians out of a desire to eat their brains we locked ourselves in our hotel room and prepared for the next day.

Amsterdam: Leaving the confines of The Plantage Hotel

2011-05-30T23:45:00.004-04:00

Following our freshening up Kate and I left the confines of the Plantage hotel and began a trek on foot to Museumplein, a square where several museums are located, including the Van Gogh museum. Below are some snapshots taken along the way.
A spacious motor vehicle in navigating the streets of Amsterdam.A typical ring canal in the center city lined with boats and chained bicycles. Below is likely Keizersgracht, the widest of Amsterdam's canals and the center in the ring of three canals that make up the central city.The building above is the Rijksmuseum, a museum of art and history in Amsterdam. The mosaic and copula are close ups.

We were a bit hungry at this point and we fell for this tourist trap, where the menu was in English and only in English. For the record, the location was fantastic and the food was great. Check out the bread on our tomato, mozzarella, and pesto sandwiches. It hit the spot.

Our cafe was near this other touristy activity the "I Amsterdam" or I am Amsterdam if you will promo- that is located in Museumplein. Huge tourist photo op... see Kate below taking it all in. I think its a better shot than all of the peeps taking the quintessential glam shots in front of this marketing campaign. And yet here we are photographing it as well...

Bellies full we went into the Van Gogh museum. I really enjoyed the museum, having been a fan since I was a silly college kid with the copy of "Starry Night" on my wall. I had read Lust for Life

back when I was in high school (a biography of Van Gogh), and enjoyed the movie as well. Vincent was a fellow epileptic (or so they claim), but I like to think I may be more mentally stable than he appeared to be. I've never once thought about cutting my ear off.... oh no, wait, I just did think about it, just now. Thankfully I don't have the right sized box to put it in, and I'm not sure who I would send it to.

Regardless of his mental state, his work was brilliant. It was interesting to learn that he was essentially a humanist of his day. He wanted to paint art for the common man. Quotes attributed to him were spread throughout the exhibits, as well as tying in the stages of his life that Van Gogh was in as he painted certain works. Also included was the work of influences, contemporaries, and other artists that he worked along side. This included Paul Gauguin (for whom Van Gogh painted the "Sunflowers" for), Georges Seurat (Pointillism), Monet & Manet. There was also a small Picasso exhibit which was great to see as our trip would be concluding in Picasso's birthplace of Barcelona.

Next entry: Vondlepark.

Our Europe Trip 2011- An introduction

2011-05-27T00:00:00.000-04:00

More than a year ago my friends Jason and Millie began an adventure when Jason took a position consulting for an organization out of Amsterdam. When I learned of this Kate and I were eager to take advantage of their stay and visit them there, and Jason and Millie likewise were eager to have visitors in their new home away from home. As life goes, our activities got in the way of Kate and I visiting in 2010. We both decided to enroll in a graduate course in the fall, work kept us preoccupied as always, and I spent much of this winter hunting for a home to purchase, which I'm please to have found and will be closing on June 1st.

We planned our dates for the trip at the end of 2010, anticipating the potential that I'd be enrolled in another course- I unfortunately withdrew from this due to some over ambitious planning on my part. Work, the house, and the course were too much- and as I could reschedule/ retake the course at another time, it became the obvious thing to cleave away.

But I'm getting distracted. So Amsterdam is a place I probably would never had visited had it not been for my friends living there. So you can imagine how ironic it was when Jason contacted me, slightly panicked hoping that somehow Kate and I had not booked our trip. You see, the firm Jason was contracted out to ended up getting bought out, and as a result his project was cancelled and he and Millie were instructed to pack their bags and return home. I gingerly called up Kate and dealt her the news that our hosts would no longer be in Amsterdam. She took it in stride and we made the best of the situation and tried reading up on our non-refundable trip. We had the intuition to split our vacation over 3 locales, Amsterdam, Bruges, and Barcelona, so in the end we adjusted by spending an extra day and Belgium and booking hotels to fill in the couple of days we would have spent with our friends.

Some times life forces you to do things you might not otherwise do, and when you are lucky, it is memorable and beneficial. This was one of these scenarios.

We had the pleasure of having dinner with Jason, Millie and their newborn daughter Amelia before heading out on our journey. We excitedly talked about some of the attractions we had scheduled, and about possibly visiting them in their new home in Chicago (Before they move!) ;)

Additionally my friends Scott and Kristen visited Amsterdam on their honeymoon, and were nice enough to provide advice and loan us a "unconventional" guide book called "Get Lost" which is a fun read.

Before I delve into the sites I thought I'd start by showing our "Budget" hotel room which was in the "attic" of a hotel in the Plantage neighborhood of Amsterdam. It was small, somewhat crude, but surprisingly comfortable. The bathroom was ridiculously cramped and the shower had the traditional Amsterdam "flat floor" which needs to be squeegeed every time you shower. I had read about this in a Memoir about someone living in Amsterdam called "My Dam Life" by Sean Codon. I was sort of pleased to experience it- despite the inconvenience surrounding it.

While Kate showered after our Red-Eye flight I hopped over to the local "AH" grocery store and picked up some water and "Coke Light" (as diet Coke is called in Europe) as well as some things to munch on. Check out the swank plywood table with glass cover. The room actually had a refrigerator which really came in handy.

The crazy stairs that we needed to tote our suitcases up. I think we were on the 4th floor. We were aware of these prior to booking, and it was at the time deemed worth it to save $20 a night. They weren't quite as bad as people made them out to be (some described them as a ladder which is quite a stretch).

I'm not quite sure why I chose to take a picture of the toilet, other than to show that since it is in the attic- I needed to make sure I paid attention to my head, and try not to stand up to quick!

Check out the Squeegee!!!

This place gave me an appreciation for what it must be like to be an NBA player, since even at my average 5'10" frame, I felt vertically confined.

Soon after arriving we headed out to the Van Gogh Museum and out on the town- walking among the canals, the history, the Marijuana, and of course the prostitutes. I'll continue blogging Monday after the long weekend! In the meantime, I've posted some summaries of trips from the past couple years that I blogged about. Feel free to check them out!

San Francisco 2010

2011-05-26T23:13:00.000-04:00

A summary of links from a San Francisco Vacation

City By the Bay, Day 1
Day 2, pt 1 Oakland
Day 2, pt 2 Berkeley
Day 2 Conclusion: Evening in San Francisco
Day 3 Muir Woods
Day 3 Marin County Rd Trip
Day 3 pt 3
Day 4 begins
Day 4 pt 2 Alcatraz
Day 4 Conclusion
Day 5 Begins
Day 5 pt 2
Day 5 concludes
Day 6 begins
Day 6 continues
Sutro Baths footage
Day 6 end of the trip
I tie shoes poorly

NYC 2009 Blog

2011-05-26T23:09:00.000-04:00

Summary of 2009 winter NYC trip following Xmas

Arrival
NYC 2009 cont.
Conclusion of first night
Day 2 begins
Day 2 continued
Day 2 conclusion
The last day
The last day conclusion

Arizona 2009 Blog Link Summary

2011-05-26T22:38:00.000-04:00

A summary of an Arizona trip in the fall of 2009, blog links below

Time in AZ
AZ Sunday, on our own
AZ Monday
AZ Tuesday
AZ Wednesday
AZ Thursday
AZ Friday/ Conclusion

Conspiracy (healthy or unhealthy)

2011-05-03T23:06:00.001-04:00

Who knows? But thought provoking, especially since at least some of the babble in this is true, regardless of how overstated it may be.

So therefore it is fitting to call it...

2011-04-20T01:40:00.001-04:00

the Alan Parsons Project

It just seemed appropriate somehow. Don't judge me.

Today I went for a walk after work...

2011-04-12T22:41:00.004-04:00

It was nice out. Well, it was nice, but not that nice. You know what I mean, it was so so at best, but I'll take that any day over cold, dreary, and wet. It was just dreary. Some people thought it was cold. I thought it was just fine. Just fine.

I coughed a bit. I've been coughing a lot lately. Caught myself a cold. What does that mean actually: "caught myself a cold"? What, am I running around with a glove on my hand? A basket in out stretched arms? My mouth open, gaping, hoping that an unsuspecting germ lands comfortably on my tongue? It's as though the phrase implies an expectation of acquiring the cold, as though I'm actually seeking one out. I'd like to think that my cold is entering its final stages. I think I had a fever early on last week. I actually missed a day of work. Now phlegm is minimal, but I still have a little cough.

When I concluded the first portion of my walk at the Community College T station, several girls were huddled in the stairway going down to the platform and the first thing that popped into my mind was "What are they doing?," followed shortly by "Why are they in MY way?" and this thought process was finally concluded by "Now, Now, George- they are just cold. Everyone is different".

Eventually my train came and dumped me out at Oak Grove where I proceeded to walk to my apartment. On the way home I saw two women walking side by side on the small sidewalk toward me. I prepared for the ritualistic dance of giving room so we each would adjust our trajectory with minimal changes. As the encounter approached it became clear that I did not appear to exist to them, and if I did, we were locked in a terrible game of chicken. Ultimately I cowered and yielded. I clearly am less important than they, and a less significant being. Now I am home, and I'm preparing for a new day's worth of coughing, observations, and near misses in the dangerous life of a pedestrian.

My Vitality

2011-04-08T22:00:00.002-04:00

If one types, technically is that still considered writing? Well.. I did find a definition on Thesaurus.com that insinuates to write is to merely put language down on paper. So I guess not. I am not writing. If at one point my low end HP deskjet is employed in the task of wasting part of the earth's bountiful resources on replicating this drivel into hard form.....THAT, that will be writing. This is simply electronic noise, lost in an endless sea of other electronic noise. The blog... My blog, my readerless, masturbatory, narcissistic, exercise in futility of a blog, meandering between nonsense, personal antidote, politics and travel journal. I had about five regular readers at its peak, one reader for each of the topics described above (If the other three topics are being discussed I imagine they have the page open for about 3.3 seconds, perhaps 10 if running on a slower connection or processor, then they go back to farmville or what ever other worthless thing they'd rather do than read my blog). The fifth reader is just simply bored. You know who you are. Embrace life, its waiting for you with open arms. Vitality: energy, spirit. Namely, my energy spirit- where has it been and what has it been directed to? Ask me later... I'm not telling. Not yet anyway.

I feel obliged to somehow

2011-03-08T23:49:00.003-05:00

Keep this thing going.....

Until a time where my life allows me to ramble on for the benefit of myself (primarily) and the two or three other people who might occasionally look at this thing.

Right now I'm very very busy, and while I'd like to be here ranting, commenting on the mundane, etc.... its just not in the cards.

Here's a couple of links I thought were interesting:

February 2011 deficit $63 billion more than the entire 2007 deficit

President Obama praises Mitt Romney’s health care plan
Best way to eliminate probably the only formidable GOP contender, endorse him ahead of the primaries and let the hard right do your dirty work. Brilliant.

Despite my Cable Bill

2011-01-29T01:08:00.002-05:00

I would like to thank Comcast, or Cable Town as it is known on 30-rock for some of their decisions lately:

Ed Schultz 'Psycho Talk' Segment Axed By MSNBC

Watch your back Rachel Maddow. I like how she's criticising CNN for not censoring out Michelle Bachmann's SOTU for teapartiers.... bit ironic considering according to her MSNBC is an unbiased station that doesn't engage in such favoritism and manipulation of news such as choosing what to report only things that favor their view. (Although their view may be changing....)

Olberman Free till at least 2012

2011-01-21T23:55:00.002-05:00

What a shame... perhaps NPR will hire him... He'll have to practice speaking in a monotone voice first.

http://www.deadline.com/2011/01/nbcu-statement-msnbc-and-keith-olberman-have-ended-their-contract-last-show-tonight/

Way to Stay above The Fray Huffington....

2011-01-08T17:46:00.002-05:00

The shooting that occurred at a Gabrielle Giffords townhall style event is horrible, and from the sound of it Giffords seems like an excellent example of a decent, good congresswoman. It is a tragedy that so many other people were injured or killed.

The man who shot her from his videos seems mentally ill to say the least, claiming a love of the Communist Manifesto, Mein Kampf, and a distaste for things related to God and the U.S. Constitution which he claims engaged in mind control through "controlling grammar". I've been watching coverage on both MSNBC and Fox to the difference MSNBC has already begun suggesting the teaparty may be to blame (funny, I seem to recall the teaparty having a religious under current... and support of the constitution being one of their main objectives).

The most heinous politicizing of this I saw on the Huffington post. The following is taken from the link included below. Make your own assessment.

"There is no evidence at this time that the shooting of Giffords was politically motivated, but it's grimly ironic that the candidate appeared on a map of House Democrats "targeted" by Palin in 2010."

Sarah Palin Statement On Arizona Shooting Involving Democrat Rep. Gabrielle Giffords

2011

2011-01-07T01:19:00.002-05:00

Another that year I never really anticipated. What does that mean? Well, lets just when I was 13 or 14 years old I never really conceptualized life beyond say 2002 or 2003 at the latest. And yet here I am, a man with popping knees and grinding vertebrae, older than my parents were when they conceived me, and yet perhaps I am more wide eyed and directionless than they were at my age. Anyway, I can't help but feel like 2010 marked some sort of transition for me, as though reality has set in and the full weight of adulthood has finally descended upon me. I think this will be a year of many changes. And if I play my cards right, and stick with the game when my hand seems like it might not last the round, perhaps, just maybe, I can come out on the other better than the man I am today.

James Taggart lives....

2010-12-09T19:39:00.005-05:00

I was going to put this in facebook- but its too political. Too good not to share. Weiner is like the James Taggart character from Atlas Shrugged to a tee. A useless conniving low life who is essential a corrupt drain on society. All I could think about when he was saying that inherited money does not belong to those its left to was that part of office space, where Peter tries to explain to Jennifer Aniston's character how his computer virus that drops fractions of a penny into a bank account is not stealing. Jen: Its not your, Peter: but it becomes mine, Jen:how is that not stealing? Something along those lines.

I was upset today as I left work, although some music on the ride home I managed to distract me a bit. I read a wonderful article about the promise of a new drug that my company has in clinical trials. Really good remission rates on Lymphoma- less side effects than traditional lymphoma. At the end of the article there was a spot for comments, and some guy named edward said something along the lines of how disappointing it is that all pharmaceutical companies and their researchers care about are profits and why they can't find it in their hearts to overlook the need for them.

I understand where this comes from. The class warfare. It is just really heartbreaking how pervasive it is however, because it is the drive for profits that is the engine that drives technology. Without it advances in medicine and personal technology would be unheard of. You need the venture capitalists to go out on a limb and fund the start ups. Then only one out of many start ups succeed. Then if their product gets to say a dirty word "profitable" they turn around and use those profits to make the next big innovation. It does not happen any other way.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/214040-monoclonal-antibody-companies-command-premiums

Small molecule drugs have a 13% success rate in the clinic, that means only about 1 in ten small molecule drugs actually makes it through clinical trials. For large molecules it is 32% or 1 in 3. These type of drugs are more costly however and are just beginning to be pursued more. This does not even consider all of the failed drug candidates that don't make it to clinical trials which may have millions of dollars invested in them. Successful drugs probably will cost hundreds of millions to develop. So sure..... if you believe profits are evil, I guess you must be OK with the luck of the draw we all get in life. If you get a disease- tough luck, better die and not be a drain on society.

Just when you/I thought I might be done with the blog

2010-10-30T22:56:00.002-04:00

Yes, Yes.... I've been absent, lost within a world of facts, figures, text books and late night teleconferences. I'm been subjected to a lab performing experiments that haven't even been planned, and I've been stumbling and jumping around from foot to foot to try and keep all of the plates I'm spinning on posts from crashing to the floor.

Life has become a harrowing show of acrobatics, and lets just say I haven't been feeling at the top of my game.

So the blog... the blog that I had such high hopes for at the beginning of the year, has fallen to the way-side. (What does way side mean exactly?? Its one of these terms I use frequently and I should honestly look it up- wikianswers claims it came from the Bible, I'm not sure I'm buying that since the Bible has been rewritten countless times, definitions just seem to indicate the common interpretation of something getting shoved aside). Did I mention that I have awesome time management skills?

Life, well back on topic..... Life has been all about juggling "Statistics and Data Analysis for Researchers" which I'm taking through a CSU distance program, work- which I've been assigned a couple new ambitious projects, and of course the typical quality of life stuff that I still try to squeeze in to prevent my self from going CRAAAA-ZZZIIIEEEE! Whhhooooooooo! But I'm not sure its working.

Someone said to me in passing the other day "George, have you snapped yet?" and my response was "Oh you don't have to worry about that, I already snapped a long time ago.

Anyway... I'll try to post here infrequently even if it is once or twice a week. Writing to the two or three people that actually check this thing out (including myself) just makes me a complete person.

Nuh Uhhhh

2010-09-30T23:28:00.000-04:00

Obama and Pelosi said this would happen and that the Republicans were just being haters and scare mongers.... so this can't be true Wall Street Journal.

McDonald's May Drop Health Plan
"McDonald's Corp. has warned federal regulators that it could drop its health insurance plan for nearly 30,000 hourly restaurant workers unless regulators waive a new requirement of the U.S. health overhaul."

Crazy....

2010-09-19T00:31:00.003-04:00

Like Christine O'Donnell....

Well OK crazy may be harsh, but a woman who is more Christian conservative than Huckabee, more outlandish and unpolished (not to mention uneducated) than Sarah Palin, has officially won the Delaware Senate primary (after this "outsider" lost it twice previously).

This is a woman who's career counts amongst its greatest hits:

Promoting the violent, antisemitic, propaganda piece "The Passion of Christ"

Campaigning against masturbation- clearly one of today's biggest issues, likely contributing to the downfall of society (tons of young men going blind).

Promoting celibacy and standing against premarital sex...

Oh... we are in a fiscal crisis you say? Well don't worry, she just received a BA in English and has a long personal track record of being fiscally insolvent. That experience is just what we need to balance the books. When she talks about it, perhaps she will use proper grammar and reference famous literature.

Did I mention that she desires to rewrite law to make it agree with the Bible?

This woman represents EVERYTHING that was, and unfortunately is still wrong with the GOP. Hypocrisy. Preaching about civil liberties and freedom on one hand, while trying to force personal religious beliefs down peoples throats by legislating it and throwing away the very civil liberties they claim to uphold.

Karl Rove even thinks this woman is trouble.
I think this primary blew the chances for the GOP to get the senate- and honestly, if I were in Delaware and my choice was between her and some Democrat who I probably disagree with more often than not...... I'd vote for the Democrat.

If this woman's abnormal profile wasn't enough, it seems she may be a crook just like the rest of the gang. Guess in some ways she'll fit in after all.

Watchdog group: Delaware candidate's spending 'flat-out illegal'

From a former campaign manager, via POLITICO: "This is her third Senate race in five years. As O’Donnell’s manager, I found out she was living on campaign donations — using them for rent and personal expenses, while leaving her workers unpaid and piling up thousands in debt," she says.

Ahhh... just as Jesus would have done.

No Way!

2010-09-07T23:11:00.002-04:00

Tax cuts for businesses? What kind of capitalist madness is that?

In another move aimed at stabilizing the still-shaky economy, President Barack Obama on Wednesday will introduce a new $200 billion tax cut giving businesses across the country an incentive to buy new equipment in the short term, according to a senior administration official.

Well if Barack had made these part of Spendulous instead of useless grants, and job neutral give aways to his constituents... perhaps the Dems would be in a different situation for the midterms. I would like to see the GOP work with Obama on this one, provided the proposal is what it is being sold as- tax benefits for business. That is what will stimulate the economy, that and intelligent infrastructure improvements that serve to expand the country's industrial potential and/or revitalize urban areas of blight... not high speed rail in suburban areas with NO existing local mass transit, where it will be doomed to fail. Not nature trails, not skate parks, but items of priority.

All For Not?

2010-08-18T23:32:00.002-04:00

That is the question.

How many times have you sat down and devoted yourself to doing something very complicated and time consuming only to find out later that the original reasons you initiated the task may no longer exist? I understand when it is bad planning. I understand when it is just due to inexperience at achieving a goal. But when you sit around investing yourself because you just got bad information from another party- it just is a bummer.

I recently spent over a month fixing a computer that essentially is nearly obsolete, BECAUSE... the school through which I'm taking a distance class with told me I could not use Windows 7 with software they will be using. In fact I'm still tying up a couple loose ends with the repair, but it is essentially working again. It had some virus that would redirect any web browser, typically when you used Google and clicked on a link. And of course the sites it took you to (typically faux search engines) would also occasionally infect the computer with new viruses given the opportunity.

So imagine my surprise when the class administrators want us to use Windows 7- when before they were all "Oh no... don't upgrade to Windows 7 or get a new computer. Uh-uh-uhh!"

They do have a web based feature that would still allow me to use my old computer (now working well but not giving me confidence). A coworker who is taking the course with me is getting a more extensive version of the software- and I think I'd like to do the same, which of course now means I need to get a new PC.

I was going to get an imac, but I'm leaning towards just getting a cheaper- mid grade laptop with Microsoft office installed and an upgrade to Windows 7 Professional. I can still keep my old computer operating for the time being although I'm anticipating decommissioning it and putting the laptop on a stand and just hooking up the existing monitor and keyboard that I have. The laptop would give me a portability that the imac will not have, and I won't have to fool around with Parallels and invest in Dual software (specifically Microsoft office) to run on Windows. I'd still like to do that eventually, but I just can't see my self messing around with it now with the course starting.

So... do I risk the potential of my existing PC failing again mid-course and just use the web-interface "On-Demand" version of the software? or do I get a new laptop (or Mac). I'm kind of cheap so I'm already thinking of reasons why I should just roll the dice and stick with my current setup.

Was the extensive work fixing my existing computer all for not?

Anyway, I've got some grooming to do, phlegm coughing, and potentially even some sleeping to get done before I go to work tomorrow, so I guess I'll wrap this up.

Lost a Week of My Life?

2010-08-16T22:31:00.003-04:00

Yeah so I just had (have) some sort of bacterial bronchitis, but truthfully it sort of feels like I lost a week of my life. Plans were made and derailed.

I actually felt it coming on the weekend before last but wasn't officially in the throws of the illness, thankfully. Kate and I had a great time biking around the cape with Tim. We spent some good time swimming at Bank St. beach in Harwich, and Nauset Beach. Bank St. had warm gentle water, while Nauset had 59°F water and fierce waves that knocked the wind out of you. Both were a great time, but Bank St. was a little easier to handle, and calm enough to throw a ball around in.

So I thought my tickle would simply disappear in a couple of days. I was incorrect. Every time I thought I was "turning the corner" so to speak, the following evening seemed worse. I took Wednesday of last week off, and ended up leaving work early on Friday. Aside from decommissioning one of my old computers and preparing it for recycling or the dump my accomplishments were next to nothing.

Tuesday I watched District 9 through Netflix, which is a fantastic sci-fi movie by Peter Jackson. It managed to be corny, have great special effects, and have layers of philosophy to it all at the same time. As I was coughing up phlegm days after seeing this movie I inevitably sat around thinking about my mortality. I ruminated on how one needs to make the best use of the time that lies ahead of you that you can manage. We are in a constant state of change, and we should never take present day for granted.

But then again, perhaps I should have made better use of my time between coughing, breaking blood vessels in my eyes, and popping cough drops.

Regretfully I went to the Doctor's office today and they supplied me with some antibiotics. Hopefully they will help me clear up. He didn't think anything I have was too serious, I suspect I'm on the mend (although I thought that before). I hate to imagine a "serious" respiratory condition.

My hope for the future, to have my voice back, and to perhaps bike into work before the week is over.

The worst part about this is I haven't seen Kate since the Cape Cod trip because I cancelled our last couple times together due to my current affliction. So that will be the highlight of my week going forward.

So no politics for today... I'm too tired. I think the unmade bed is beckoning to me.

Actually the Apocalypse May be Coming

2010-08-11T20:09:00.005-04:00

Well not that sort of fire and brimstone eye for an eye judgement day sort of apocalypse, but rather a paradigm shift from the relatively stable quasi-socialist state that we grew up in.

I was sick today, started coming on this weekend, however I was holding out hope it was allergies. I slept most of the day, and as a bonus I got to watch Glenn Beck which is on television before I usually get home. I don't agree with Beck all of the time. I think from time to time he says things to just catch his opposition off guard. Occasionally he also brings religion too much into his beliefs- regardless he is much better than pretty much any of the other right wing commentators on this level. I was disappointed to see him politicize the Ground Zero mosque issue, and perhaps step back from what was previously stated as their right to build it. He has repeated the insinuation that the Cordoba Initiative is somehow linked to radicals. There has been no evidence to support this and yet the right continues to use this to support an initiative that is fundamentally un-American and unconstitutional and promotes hatred by making the statement Islam is equal to Terrorism.

But I'm getting distracted. The point of this post is not to discuss my grievances with Beck, but rather to give him a thumbs up. What I hear time and time again- usually from the left and the progressives is that he blows things out of proportion. This was repeated to me by someone who tends to agree with my political beliefs more than the typical Joe, but I didn't have the patience to disagree. In fact I even found myself agreeing. However- allow me to recant.

Sensationalizing- it is a time honored technique. WAR! on the cover of the news print in big black letters. Strike fear. More recently you might hear "Wall street does this, Wall street does that"- create class division. Suggest that someone else's bonuses are to blame for your economic short comings. How about "Acorn helps out pimps?" So the whole thing turned out to be a contrived set up. They were wrong to do it, but they brought down a whole corrupt institution- or at the very least forced them to regroup. Leaves you feeling morally divided- because the ends were good, but the ends should not always justify the means.

Some might say Mr. Beck is using controversial means to justify his intended ends. Glenn Beck points out the similarities in leftist policy to the Fascists and the Stalinists. Could he have as easily pointed out the Capitalist similarities to the Fascists? Probably- although more than likely these comparisons would not help build a case of government power over that of the populace. Perhaps he could have compared the USSR's aggressive military policy to W's use of preemptive military action on Iraq. Again- it isn't in line with Beck's domestic agenda, however if he had done this- I probably would have agreed. Beck DOES use W's Patriot act against him, calling it progressive legislation that infringes upon our rights as citizens.

Beck argues that the progression of our political structure into more over-reaching government power will bring about the collapse of our personal liberties, our government and economy, which still has some semblance of a free market and competitive forum. In doing this the powerful private entities that fund the existing social structure will no longer exist- forcing our society to adopt a totalitarian state.

Is that too much of leap? Personally I don't really think so. Yes, actually if we aren't vigilant, the apocalypse may be coming.

O'Reilly tonight questioned Beck on why he does not harp on the social issues. Beck responded with a quote he attributed to Jefferson: "If it neither breaks my leg or picks my pocket what difference is it to me." He essentially said the government should stay out of marriage amounting to what seemed like a little disbelief over why people are bothered by gay marriage. While he expressed disagreement with abortion rights (I feel this is inconsistent with his other beliefs- but that is my personal conviction and not one I feel like discussing), he said it wasn't his issue to cover. Getting to the point that if you can't put food on your table, or exercise your basic freedoms none, of these issues even matter. (Of course I think they matter- but social issues should take second billing to economic and security issues in my opinion) I've suspected this of Beck, and it is one of many reasons I admire him. I admire his exploration of history, because it is repeating itself. I admire that he has used his creativity to build an empire without much in the way of formal education. I admire his passion and I think it is real, and that it isn't based on some sort of twisted personal issues (Laura Ingraham) he isn't merely an entertainer who doesn't even adhere to what he preaches (Limbaugh), he isn't a devoted disciple that tows the party line (Hannity), and he isn't a disgusting hypocritical shock jock(ette) (Ann Coulter). And yes, of course he's entertaining, from his emotional outbursts, to his comedic flares, and for the most part the guy does it staying above the fray, not saying the borderline bigoted some times out right racists things you hear from some of these other commentators.

Yes, it may be the end of the world. And we should treat it that way. We should act, and we need to act with patience and reserve (don't resort to violence or hate) which Beck has been promoting on his show. He's beat the message like a drum, that "the Left" wants "the Right" to become violent, to become prejudiced, and to be politically incorrect. If they do, it helps Obama and the Democrats out. Mean while, you have the Limbaughs and the Savages on the other side getting people angry, playing borderline racist pieces, and spouting off heated rhetoric with often no basis in fact.

If there is a change in November, I think this country will owe Mr. Beck in part for helping to make that occur when there is no clear leader to the opposition to the left. He gives the the general public the benefit of the doubt, that they can participate in intellectual discussion rather the typical good vs. evil stuff that most commentators dabble in. There is no Gingrich, no contract with America, and the GOP is split three ways, the moderates or so called Rinos, the Christian Right who continues to care about issues that only a minority of the country passionately supports, and the Libertarians, who can be trapped when they try to explain briefly while popular yet dysfunctional policy should be overturned. There is no cohesiveness in this group aside that they all support a slightly smaller role of government than that envisioned by the left.

I think Beck does an excellent job preaching about the fundamentals that made this country great, where we've gone wrong, and all the while, paying just enough lip service to the social conservatives to keep them interested. Machiavellian a bit? Sure, but that is what makes a good politician- and Glenn Beck may not be running for office, but in essence he is practicing politics.

A look at Media Watch Dogs

2010-07-28T07:41:00.002-04:00

There are several fact check organizations that operate under the guise of being unbiased organizations to keep the media in check. A closer look however paints a different story.

Factcheck.org is perhaps one of the most well known- however it boldly mentions that it is a problem of the Annenberg Public Policy Center. This is an organization run out of the University of Pennsylvania and was established with help from Walter and Leonore Annenberg. As it turns out the Annenbergs were prominent Democrat activists. Additionally the Annenberg Public Policy Center exists in part due to government grants from organizations including the NIH. (conflict of interest?)

Next up Media Matters. We are hearing a lot from these guys lately. Well, this organization actually makes the leap of faith that no one will actually read their "about us" because they are fairly up front about their intentions. However you see countless people citing Media Matters as evidence of right wing spin- when their mission is this: Media Matters for America is a Web-based, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media.

http://www.politifact.com/ is another which I have mentioned recently. It is associated with the St. Petersburg times. Lets look at some Times editorials.. such as:
The Times recommends: Obama for President
Feel free to google it, but they endorsed Kerry prior to that. Surprised?

Even NPR, a biased organization in itself gets it, with the exception that they actually said factcheck and politifact aren't biased- which clearly is not true.
Political Fact-Check Sites Proliferate, But Can They Break Through the Muck?

I think it is unfortunately inherent in the nature of people to spin things and unfortunately truly unbiased news is going to be really tough to come by. That is why we must educate ourselves and get information from multiple sources, both left and right.

Good Enough for Government Work

2010-07-27T00:13:00.002-04:00

Thousands of Arlington Graves Could Be Mislabeled, Senator Says

Sheesh, it is a good thing we have a quality, accountable organization which will be overseeing our new health care regulation. Oh.... Never mind.

The DISCLOSE ACT

2010-07-16T06:48:00.000-04:00

Brought to you by Chuck Schumer (D), the NY sneering senator that has an appearance and mannerism not unlike former Democrat speaker of the house from my parent state of Maine, George Mitchell. (Word on the street is he's gunning for majority leader if Harry Reid loses his election bid, which he probably will)

The Disclose act was passed in the House where it was sponsored by Christopher Van Hollen, (D) Maryland, is a bill that tries to make it seem like the good representatives are looking out for the Good Citizens interest by banning influence from business.

Amongst the things it would do:

-Ban political contributions from recipients of TARP funds (keep banks from influencing elections- keep in mind they are the biggest employers in Manhattan and if they can not influence legislation to promote a healthy economic environment it could be.... well lets just say I think economists know more about managing money than a bunch of old lawyers with aspirations of power and glory. Their track record with monetary regulation isn't great, and even currently they continue to force banks to hand out bad loans- the root cause of the economic collapse)

-Ban political contributions from companies that are involved in oil or gas exploration (why should they be banned from having a say in elections when so much of their livelihood depends upon the outcome?)

-Ban companies from contributing to politics when 20% or more of the company is owned people outside of the U.S. (In today's free trade world this will severely cut back companies that can contribute)

-Adds extensive regulation on political contributions and expenditures. Unions are included here (perhaps to save face or appear "bipartisan") however there are no limits on Union contributions directly like the private sector limitations discussed above. Apparently Schumer and VanHollen do not see the Teacher's Union, the unions for Law Enforcement, firefighters, transit workers, and unions for county, state, and town workers as a conflict of interest. Funny how that works (Most U.S. Union Members Are Working for the Government, New Data Shows) This just in: (Unions to spend $100M in 2010 campaign to save Dem majorities) Hmmmmm.....

-Oh, and Unions with extensive foreign membership, such as the Service Employees International Union, are not subject to a similar foreign prohibition. But I'm sure Unions with foreign membership have traditional American interests at heart.

This is largely a response to the supreme court ruling throwing out part of campaign finance reform. If passed this would so limit private sector money into elections, that you would essentially legislate the exclusive funding of Democrat candidates.

It may seem a stretch to call this a limitation on free speech, but when a company that contributes so much to America's revenue and well being no longer has a say on how this country is run... it is a limit to the freedom of speech.
Article from Breitbart which inspired this post:
Will Senate Democrats Stifle Free Speech?

Toxic Politics by The Administration?

2010-07-15T06:54:00.000-04:00

One can only hope so.

Governors Voice Grave Concerns on Immigration

From Article:
In a private meeting with White House officials this weekend, Democratic governors voiced deep anxiety about the Obama administration’s suit against Arizona’s new immigration law, worrying that it could cost a vulnerable Democratic Party in the fall elections.

Now I'll be the first to say that on immigration, where I am not as left wing and Machiavellian as Obama (Its all about building a Democrat voting block), I do tend to have different views than the GOP. I think their gut instinct is to take an overly harsh stance on the issue that leads to racism and subjects themselves to that criticism. While I am morally opposed to kicking out people who have lived here for years, especially when we've allowed it, and even have encouraged them to do it, at the same time I recognize Arizona's right to pass this "re-enforcement" of federal laws that are not being followed.

I disagree with the law personally, not because it supports racial profiling- that is complete politically motivated bull sh*t. (Racial profiling like it or not is part of life- and it already exists in relation to essentially every law on the books, so by the same logic we should repeal all of them and just install anarchy to prevent "racial profiling" from happening.) I am against it because I think people who have lived here long term should be given an opportunity to get legal residence. Now I know that is unfair to people who are going through the motions to get visas, etc, but the fact of the matter the "unfair" portion of this already happened. They are here, they have homes that they worked for and paid for, taking that way would be stealing. It would be inhumane. We should have been enforcing the laws years ago, and by not doing so we essentially said "Its OK, come on in and we'll take care of you". The idea that we can suddenly send all of these people back to the desert which happens to be a war zone is despicable, and it is horribly blind to their plight. Lets make it right going forward, and deal with the inconveniences that we've created not only for ourselves, but for these people who are just trying to survive.

We have an opportunity to help these people achieve the American Dream they came for. Or we could keep the status quo and turn them into state dependent zombies who will vote for their monthly allotment of toilet paper and soma. And honestly in what I see as a worst case scenario we could create violence, civil unrest, and hardship by rounding them up and sending them over the border. Karl Rove, Bush, McCain and a hand full of others got this but were crucified over it.

But I'm getting separated from the point of this post. Bad News for Obama & the Democrats is good news for this country. The expansion of government at the expense of the private sector is out of control, it must be stopped. And Arizona was in between a rock and a hard place. The government blew their chances to pass some sort of immigration bill, and states are paying the consequences, literally. While I may not condone their methods, they had to do something because no one else was, and quite frankly I hope more states follow suit, and perhaps the feds will get the message. Right now however- Obama's response of trying to say this is "racism" is ridiculous, and in the end it will likely bury him. Sadly it is Obama's response that is racist by inciting racism- more than a law that actually says cops can ask for ID (which I'm pretty sure they are already supposed to do....for me any way- do you think there is some racial profiling going on there?)

Politifact the same as Factcheck

2010-07-14T07:09:00.000-04:00

Biased...

At least that is my early verdict.

In looking through the statements that they called into question by different commentators, I found that almost all of Olbermann's statements were specific to new or current policy and what it would accomplish. Glenn Beck on the other hand had statements where he got a historical figure slightly wrong (and if you correct the number the emphasis of the statement still stands), or one where he accredited something that happened in History to Jefferson when it was really Adams.... in other words an ab lib messing up of facts when the ultimate point of discussion still was validated when the facts were corrected. Further more Barack Obama's "kept promises" are very generous to him. Many of the items on the list I actually find tough to believe that Barack promised them in any specificity, and they are mostly minor, yet they are weighted the same as issues such as Gitmo.

Then of course there is the current event of the Arizona fiasco where the governor said she had the support of most of the police chiefs- when in fact her statement is right- it is largely only a few of the chiefs in urban areas that tend to be liberal that dissent.

Check out their link:
Jan Brewer says law enforcement supports Arizona's immigration law
Even here it illustrates how they are twisting data. Brewer never said "ALL" law enforcement supports immigration law- which they imply that she meant. And further more even if she did say, according to Politifact's own acquired data 140 oppose the law, and 9000 support. Statistically 140/9140*100= 1.53% of the law enforcement disagrees. Perhaps Politifact simply can't do math? Because I certainly consider 1.53% generally to be negligible.

So... I can see why Huffington would be disappointed when Politifact calls something she said into question, because generally they appear to be trying to skew things her way.

Keith Olbermann and his Truthiness

2010-07-13T06:43:00.000-04:00

I've long detested this commentator, and occasionally I like to watch his hate spewed rhetoric. On rare occasions I might agree with something he says, typically what he supports tends to be a half baked bad idea. His brand of propaganda is disparaging to his foes, and politically incorrect in a way that never seems politically incorrect, because amongst his supporters it is OK to spread stereotypes of white Christians from middle America.

I found a link to a site on the Huffington Post of all places and discovered a page that rated Olbermann on his (to quote Colbert) "truthiness".

http://www.politifact.com/personalities/keith-olbermann/

Of course they are going by selected recent statments so they could easily spin this a certain way. What gets me, as a commentator is you can find facts to support your view and just omit what doesn't support your cause. Is Politifact taking this into consideration- or is Keith routinely out right lying? From the examples provided it seems to lean towards the latter.

The link on Huffington had me thinking Poltifact might be an improvement over the biased "factcheck.com" since Huffington her self was bickering in a column that one of her statements was half true. So of course, I had to check it out.

Some Missed Old News

2010-07-12T07:05:00.002-04:00

There was a time following the passage of health care reform, that I admit I was numb to the world of news. Its passage was one of the worst changes in domestic policy that could happen in my opinion. They are followed closely in my view by the Patriot Act, and the Medicare Reform Act (both of the W era). Of course I'm excluding the knee jerk reactions of TARP and Stimulus, because while they were bad, those were acute and not chronic afflictions.

There are often little blurbs that Administration people make that are noteworthy because they are candid glimpses into the true feelings of their speaker on a given topic. The following is one:

Obama:
"It is a vital national security interest of the United States to reduce these conflicts because whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower, and when conflicts break out, one way or another we get pulled into them," Obama said. "And that ends up costing us significantly in terms of both blood and treasure."

Source: Obama: America a Superpower 'Whether We Like It or Not'

So kids remember- being strong and powerful is bad. Makes sense to me, I'll follow those words of wisdom.

The funny thing is this is the very root of all of his political philosophy.

If you read Dreams from My Father, Obama's memoir, it becomes overtly apparent that Barack consistently believes the short comings of the poor are a direct result of the wealth of the powerful. He discusses colonialism in great detail, and seems to make connections between these often backwards policies of the past and today's economic policy. While there may be some truth to these assertions, I suspect it is negligence in our policy and politics of the moment, rather than intentional abuse of 3rd world Nations that occurs. And ironically, even organizations that the left trumpets, such as Bono's efforts- ultimately may end up funding war lords.

Sorry Bob, Band Aid millions DID pay for guns: Charity's man in Ethiopia tells his disturbing story

Federally Funded Pooping Grounds

2010-07-11T07:52:00.000-04:00

Ok, I'm totally just trolling Drudge for ideas, and as usual it provides.

I recall having a protracted argument with someone recently about taking federal ordinances and regulations on businesses, construction, etc too far.

This is an excellent example.

Pet bathrooms open at D.C. area airports

From Article:
The pet areas were created because of federal rules requiring "service animal relief areas" for service animals that accompany passengers on trips, but the areas are also open for families traveling with pets.

How about taking your dogs out before you get to the airport? I know I know, I'm not thinking of the well being of the pooches.

Lame Duck Congress Approaching?

2010-07-10T06:41:00.000-04:00

Let's certainly hope so. However, much of the damage has already been completed in the form of the health care legislation.

The Obama-Pelosi Lame Duck Strategy

The discussion now of course is starting to turn towards what will Democrats do in their lame duck session? The prospects are horrifying. Lets hope that the so called "Blue Dog" Democrats have principals, and they aren't just talking points aimed at pleasing their constituents.

From article:
Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, chair of the Senate committee overseeing labor issues, told the Bill Press radio show in June that "to those who think [card check] is dead, I say think again." He told Mr. Press "we're still trying to maneuver" a way to pass some parts of the bill before the next Congress is sworn in.

The article closes:
Many Democrats insist there will be no dramatic lame-duck agenda. But a few months ago they also insisted the extraordinary maneuvers used to pass health care wouldn't be used. Desperate times may be seen as calling for desperate measures, and this November the election results may well make Democrats desperate.

Peace in the Middle East!

2010-07-08T23:48:00.004-04:00

Obama: Israelis suspicious of me because my middle name is Hussein

"My closeness to the Jewish American community was probably what propelled me to the U.S. Senate."

Hmmmm... closeness like attending a church where the minister frequently engaged in antisemitic rants? (Not that Obama is antisemitic. But he did show up weekly to listen to someone who is.)

Oh... Rahm Dead Fish Emmanuel. I forgot about him. I'm tempted to question his faith but I won't.... oh wait, maybe I just did?

Bottom line- Obama is cool, and that obviously trumps any bad decisions, and any incompetence on the part of his administration. Or dare I mention, questionable, narcissistic statements like the one mentioned in the title of the article I linked to.

New Pornographers, The Dodos, Rockport and The Karate Kid

2010-06-20T21:33:00.002-04:00

Kate and I had a fun filled weekend beginning Friday with The New Pornographers concert at the House of Blues. The Duchess and the Duke and The Dodos opened for the New Pornographers and they were excellent opening acts. When the Dodos performed the venue was already filled to capacity. I had seen the Dodos a couple of years ago in Portland. They've since added a 3rd band member who contributes sound effects and the occasional xylophone playing. The Dodos alone made the show worth going to, and if possible they were even better than the first time I saw them. They play with an intensity and passion that is pretty much unmatched, and have a sound that is unique.

The New Pornographers were great, they had a bit of a rough start when a disgruntled fan chose to throw a copy of their new cd on stage, one can only assume it was some sort of protest. The band members were clearly a bit taken aback. They tried to make light of it, although Neko Case launched into an expletive ridden tirade about how she was a "white trash bitch" and would fight the person who threw it. This eventually turned into "I'll fight everyone in the audience" before she finally ended admitting she had taken it too far. I got the feeling the band may have had a little back stage drama before the show because they looked tired and stressed. By about the third or fourth song into the set it turned around and it was a stellar, high energy show.
Daniel Bejar might give Stephen Merritt of the Magnetic Fields a run for his money in terms of eccentricities. Bejar is definitely the band member who does not fit in, which is saying something considering the vocalist/ keyboardist Katherine Calder is about ten years younger than the rest of the group. Bejar tended to leave the stage on many songs, and when he was there, unless he was singing he would perform with his back to the audience. I had read about this but forgot about it. A.C. Newman joked that Bejar had wet himself at one point, which I'm sure is probably a reoccurring act at shows. He was probably one of my favorites of the group. Katherine seemed to get enjoyment from the audience appreciation of the couple of songs which she led. Their set list spanned their discography, and they performed a three song encore. A crowd favorite was probably "My slow descent" (into alcoholism).

The very first opener, The Duchess and the Duke were a pleasant surprise. I'd call them a cross between folk grunge and rockabilly, and yes they were from Seattle. They consisted of a woman vocalist on guitar, a dude with a bumping beard on guitar, and a guy who seemed to sort of be the unofficial lead, even though besides vocals he just played tambourine. They were all slightly overweight, and the tambourine man, may or may not have been drunk. Their songs were filled with emotion, and they harmonized excellent together.

Saturday afternoon Kate and I went to Rockport and walked around in the wonderful weather. On Sunday, the weather seemed a bit questionable and we decided to see a movie. We caught the new Karate Kid movie which was exactly what I expected it to be, entertaining summer fluff, it was a nice escape. We may try to see Toy Story on IMAX next week.

Well... time to get ready for another week at work.

Barack a Little Too Transparent?

2010-06-14T23:21:00.003-04:00

A call to action.
I can't wait to see the results.
One can only hope it will be half as successful as the Health Care initiatives.

Obama: Gulf spill 'echoes 9/11'

“In the same way that our view of our vulnerabilities and our foreign policy was shaped profoundly by 9/11,” the president said in an Oval Office interview on Friday, "I think this disaster is going to shape how we think about the environment and energy for many years to come.”

Barack Obama shows a rare bit of honesty where he perhaps should not have. I've been suspicious that the White House was licking their lips over the chances to use the BP disaster as a major political tool. However I think he is largely misjudging American sentiment regarding this issue.

Of course if it is of the same magnitude Barack's 45% approval rating should be going up to 95% any time now...... in a few moments.

It is interesting where all of the whack job conspiracy theorists are if this is indeed a big of a societal changing moment as 911.

What do we know at this point.

We know BP was negligent. Horribly negligent. We know that BP executive Tony Hayward has stuck his foot in his mouth repeatedly. These poorly thought out statements played into the hands of the populist Obama machine. Demonize big business, promote big government. More regulation is the answer.

The trouble is I think enough of the public knows (especially those immediately affected- their livelihoods are often entwined in it) that our regulatory government has oily hands, so to speak. The experimental Deep Water Horizon Rig, existed partially because of the U.S. government's moratorium on drilling closer to shore. The depth of the well is the primary reason it can not be easily repaired. Ironically, a few years of deep water drilling has turned out to be much more damaging than 50 years of drilling closer to shore. The deep water drilling that was supposed to help keep shorelines, and environments more pristine.

The reality is our great regulatory agencies weren't doing their job. While that does not excuse BP, how about criminal charges against the regulators who weren't performing routine safety inspections?

What? Punish government workers? That would just be a insult to the proletariat. After all government workers are real decent people, incapable of error, and those BP workers, those horrible successful executives, and those awful rig operators and engineers, are clearly evil.

Anyone who has a soul knows BP executives (and by extension all people making over $200,000 a year- we'll get around to lowering that threshold later) should be punished on principal for their immoral consumption of wealth, and perversion of mother nature's bounty for the means of personal profit. I mean if those regulatory agencies simply took over BP, they'd obviously do a much better job. If they could just get people to not show up on the job all on the same day, then the government regulators, would not have to worry about what the government oil rig engineers are doing incorrectly. No one would be operating the rig, or regulating it, and all would be well. And of course if they choose not to show up it is clearly within their "rights" to all take synchronized mental wellness day, as should be legislated. Perhaps an amendment to our constitution to cover this. While we are at it, we could throw in a few other rights for good measure.

Of course an easier solution to nationalization and increased regulation would be to ban all drilling and just let our good friends in Saudi Arabia and Venezuela supply our oil. I'm sure they'll look after our best interests because they both clearly love the United States.

Of course we could all stop using toothpaste, electricity, cars, trains, airplanes, plastics, wax, tar, lubricants, solvents, ink, floor wax, ballpoint pens, polyester, Insecticides, Tires, fiberglass, nail polish, perfumes, shoe polish, lotion, transparent tape, antiseptics, food preservatives, basket balls, golf balls, tennis balls, soap, vitamin capsules, antihistamines, rubber shoe soles, cortisone, deodorant, foot balls, soccer balls, glue, dyes, panty Hose, underwear elastics, refrigerant, life jackets, carpets, paint, umbrellas, fertilizers, hair coloring, denture adhesive, glycerin, trash bags, shampoo, aspirin, eyeglasses, contact lenses, CD's & DVD's, circuit boards, clothes detergent, crayons, artificial turf, artificial limbs, ammonia, and many others.

And we'd also have to start harvesting crops by hand, people in the northern areas of the country would need to start eating more meat and grains to replace the lack of fresh vegetables- since growing them in the winter or transporting them will be impractical. And I'm sure there would be many other major changes we would need to make. But it doesn't seem insurmountable does it?

I think a high tax is in order on all petroleum products, and then perhaps a subsidy for everyone who falls within the lower 50% income bracket. It is only fair.

I'm expecting the Obama/Pelosi crew to come up with some highly innovative and successful idea like "Cash for Clunkers". I mean, destroying cars that get 20 mpg and giving subsidies to people to buy cars that get 25 mpg in their place is clearly good for the environment. It is that type of sustainable consumption policy that will turn this great nation around. And if we can do something like supply China with steel as collateral for our debt, it is all for the better.

Isn't change wonderful?

Haven't Been Blogging Lately

2010-06-10T21:41:00.002-04:00

I realize I've been very lax in my posts. No political rants, no mundane details of my day, no commentary on music, nothing....

Part of the reason for this is my PC is ill. After I thought I fixed the on again off again virus problem, a "hijacker" over powered my browser. Apparently I had a spy ware program that McCaffee wasn't picking up that was actively downloading Trojans, as soon as I deleted or quarantined them. I guess it was only a matter of time before one messed up my computer in a way that I could not fix conventionally with the tools at my disposal. I've been grumbling, threatening to convert to a MAC user, and have been on the fence about what to do to fix the problem. Today I purchased Windows 7 for the second time, and this time I'm actually going to unwrap it and install it. I was mildly concerned it would kill my Sony mp3 player. There is still a high risk that will happen, however, the writing is on the wall and I must proceed. Besides the player is at least 5 years old.

I am going to try out a software called pcmover, that is supposed to help in the transfer from XP to windows 7. I'll let you know how I fare.

I'm thinking of taking an online distance education program in the fall for a graduate certificate through CSU (Ironically my college rivals while I was in Wyoming), that I could parlay into a Master's Degree if it goes well, and I find the work beneficial.

So I'm working on polishing up my IT capabilities before hand, and I desperately miss my browser functionality. Basically I can't use google search or it tries to open a different page. I need to cut and paste all HTML. I tried downloading Firefox and Chrome- same problem. My windows files are corrupted by a virus. Ech...

We Walked Through Geese and Lived

2010-05-28T00:13:00.002-04:00

As promised to Kate, I'm blogging about this. As Kate and I walked around the reservoir near Cleavland Circle we came upon dozens of geese which were essentially blocking our path. We were intimidated by the presence of these birds. Hey, geese are fierce creatures. Sure they straddle a line somewhere between sophisticated beauty and comical poise, regardless we waited to see what several walkers behind us would do before risking the breach of their territory. We quickly proceeded after these observations, all the while hoping that they would not smell our fear. Luckily we made it through unscathed.

I Tie Shoes Very Poorly....

2010-05-28T00:03:00.004-04:00

I'm actually kind of impressed, I was expecting there to be many more pictures. To be fair, there was one time that Kate didn't snap the photo, however, not bad for 6 days of walking- I may be doing better.

Day 6- Marking the end of our San Francisco Getaway

2010-05-26T20:24:00.006-04:00

Continuing where I left off. This is actually the tidal intake for the Sutro Baths.Kate posing in front of the Seal Rocks. Nice capture with the gulls swooping by.

Here I am, I don't look nearly as good as Kate does in her shot.

Kate with the Golden Gate bridge in the background. We were determined to see inspiration point (which I'm still not sure we did) and find a great spot for the sunset, which we certainly did.

I snapped quite a few different shots of the sun over the water, so forgive me because I've posted most of them as well. I have a tough time deciding which one is the best.

The flash caught the cedar in this one, otherwise very nice.

Kate chilling out as I wait for the perfect sunset.

Kate enjoying the sunset.

One last shot of the Golden Gate Bridge.

We ended up waiting for a bus back at the legion of honor to get into town. It is a great location, so absolutely no complains. On the way into town we picked out our last San Francisco meal which was a Thai/ Sushi establishment in the Inner Richmond. It was a Sunday night so it was slow, however this place was another in a long line of great meals in the city by the bay. Complete with a "King & I" themed name.

Afterwards we didn't want the trip to be over so we went into town and rode the cable cars some more before eventually going back to the hotel. At one point we had a car all to our selves.

As my life passes before my eyes in those moments before I die, I'm sure many memories from this fantastic trip will comfort me in those final minutes.

Sutro Baths Footage

2010-05-26T20:13:00.002-04:00

After I put up yesterday's post I found these on youtube. Unbelievable how things change.

Day 6 continued...

2010-05-25T21:11:00.000-04:00

Back in San Francisco we headed over to the Cable Car Museum. The museum is located on the edge of Nob Hill, close enough to Chinatown that the cable car sign above is in Chinese script.

The museum is the powerhouse that drives the cars. I didn't realize prior to going to San Francisco that these cars aren't simply old fashioned trolleys. They are called "cable cars" for a reason. I assumed it was because of an electric cable- I was wrong. The cable runs under the street and is constantly running. The cars essentially work like a gondola except the cables that pull them are under ground, and they have the ability to clamp onto or let go of the cables at will to stop and go. Cars are also aided by breaks, a necessity in San Francisco.

This engine is a modern electric replacement built by everyone's favorite conglomerate, General Electric.

Grace Cathedral is a couple blocks up Mason St. from the Cable Car Museum at the top of one of the city's many hills. This San Francisco landmark is surprising constructed of cement. A true American Cathedral. The cathedral boasts a signature labyrinth inside the church, as well as outside on the plaza in front of it. Navigating the labyrinth is supposed to be meditative, as long as David Bowie, goblins and a minotaur don't show up midway.

A modern looking stained glass window in one of the Cathedral's chapels.

After crossing these attractions off of our remaining must do list, Kate wanted to go to the ruins of the Sutro Baths back out towards Ocean Beach. I was skeptical about this particular attraction but I'm thrilled we went. On the surface, ruins of a couple of old swimming pools sounds pretty uninspired, but this was a spectacular site. The location is gorgeous, and going there and imagining what it must have been like is out of this world. In the site's hey day it was the largest indoor pool/ spa made of 7 pools. The crazy thing is that 6 of the pools were salt water, and a mechanism was built so that the tides would keep them filled with water. This still exists today. It really is a marvel of engineering. This first image is on approach to the ruins, a still filled pool can be seen in the lower left corner.

This picture below looks out across where the pools used to be with the modern incarnation of the Cliff House off on the upper left.

This is an entrance to a tunnel dug to access a natural cave that was modified to fill the baths.

Below is the view from the mouth of the tunnel back towards the ruins. You could hear water rushing through what remains of the tunnels.

The natural cave in the middle of the tunnel. Apparently there used to be a pump in here to aid in filling the pools.

If you follow the tunnel all the way through the cliff you are treated to this spectacle. I tried several times to get the perfect image of water crashing on the rocks.

I believe this is looking out towards Seal Rock.

I'll continue Day 6 in the next post where we watch a gorgeous sunset, which served as a perfect conclusion of a trip to remember.

S.F. Day 6 Begins

2010-05-23T23:19:00.006-04:00

Sausalito, a small picturesque town across the bay was our destination on the morning of April 18th. We had originally planned on biking to Sausalito, but in retrospect we probably should have done it at the beginning of our trip. After climbing up and down hills for 5 days we were questioning whether we had it in us to make the journey. Additionally I had some personal concerns about leaving our rented bikes locked up so we could explore, however given the number of people who were making these bike trips, I suspect it would not have been a problem. Instead we took a ferry across the bay which I think headed out around 11:00 am. This photo was taken on the approach to Sausalito.

Below can be seen the main street along the Sausalito waterfront. It has that standard touristy seaside village feel, although Sausalito had more high end boutiques in place of the typical galleries and gift shops we are used to seeing in New England. The weather was spectacular, quite possibly the best weather of the trip. It was in the 80s this day and we were loving it.

Looking back towards San Francisco and Bay Bridge.

This is where Kate and I went for lunch. It is simply called "Hamburgers" and they grill hamburgers and chicken sandwiches on a large rotating grill. There was a huge line to get in
and we waited 15-20 minutes for our food. They were pretty good, although they could have been great and weren't. This was largely because they cook all of their burgers well done, and the juicyness was essentially gone from my cheeseburger, however you could tell it was good quality meat. The rolls and toppings were fresh and the fries were tasty. We found a park bench across the street to wolf down our food.

A few random shots of the waterfront. Unfortunately we did not make it to see the area with the houseboats which Sausalito is famous for. Apparently this town inspired the Otis Reading song "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" which had its origins from a stay in one of the house boats. The song ran through my head the whole time I was there, and it seemed to capture the atmosphere well.

Some people taking in the rays in the park.

A reminder of home.

After taking in the waterfront we hiked up the steep hills that make up most of this town. The placing of the buildings on cliff sides and hills reminded me a bit of some of the villages I saw in Spain and Portugal. One of the comments I had to someone in Spain is that I wasn't used to construction that was actually on the hill sides. In New England typically the larger hills are mostly untouched and the towns stand in the valleys. This certainly is not true of these communities in the San Francisco Bay area.

Kate wanted a picture next to the flowers, which were everywhere. This photo totally does not do them justice.

A typical street on a Sausalito hill side.

Exotic? Utopian? Spectacular, that is for sure.

We took a different pedestrian stairway back down. There are some of these in Brookline where Kate lives, but none quite like these that we saw on this trip.

The colors were incredibly vibrant. It was very therapeutic to take all of this in.

What better way to end our time in San Francisco? Ice Cream! We had spotted Lappert's Ice Cream on our first run through of the "downtown" and were determined to drop in before we left. I had mint chocolate chip, I can't recall what Kate had, but I'm betting it involved chocolate.

Next up: The cable car museum, Grace Cathedral and more of San Francisco.

Day 5 concludes

2010-05-17T22:25:00.005-04:00

From the Mission we took a short bus ride to The Castro which is San Francisco's Gay/ Theater district. Off in the distance we could see the Twin Peaks. It was clouding over a bit when we were here, and this was probably the only time when we didn't have a blue sky while on our trip. The neighborhood is very pleasant, very eclectic, clean and busy. It is a very gentrified area however, there were no shortage of small locally owned shops and boutiques. Of course that building on the corner was a Diesel store. We sat looking at it for a while when we were waiting for a bus to take us towards Haight-Ashbury and the Golden Gate Park. They had a ridiculous ad campaign displayed prominently in their windows. It is called "Be Stupid" (link to a blog showing some of the ads) and I stared at in disbelief. Here is the famous Castro theater that forms the centerpiece of the community.

Before heading all the way to the Haight, we did stop off to see these Victorians called the painted ladies. Of course, like many of you, I am ashamed to admit that it is the bad TV show "Full House" which comes to mind when I see these. Hey when I was 12, I looked forward to ABC's TGIF line up. What can I say I was a lame only child who didn't have an older brother, and since my father was working either at the golf course or second shift at BIW at the time, he wasn't around to correct my error either. Although he surprisingly always had a high tolerance of his son the sissy. Anyway, I'm getting side tracked. Kate and I sat in Alamo Square Park which has a beautiful location on a hill in the middle of many picturesque Victorian homes and apartment buildings. It was a good time for a little break in the sun, and a chance to watch the people enjoying the neighborhood with their dogs and children.

This Whole Foods is decidedly interesting looking. This is the edge of the Haight-Ashbury district. It seemed old looking at the time, however according to wikipedia Whole Foods did not start expanding west out of Austin Texas where it hails from until 1989.

An interesting wood carving above a doorway in the Haight.

The smell of weed was often in the air, but there are just as many tourists walking these streets as there are counter culture people. Head shops and dispensaries abound, as well as the novelty shops catering to the college/ youth crowds.

After walking through extensive expanses of this heaven for hippies and granolas we stumbled upon Golden Gate park. Immediately we were greeted with the rhythmic music of a drum circle. A few dozen people were dancing in circa- 1960s flower dresses and hemp ware. Many others were crashed on the grass or blankets, often with small children in tow while the pot smoke was thick in the air. Same beat on the drums over and over and over again. I was just kidding with Kate the other day that Boston really needs a drum circle group, and that perhaps it was my calling. If I did set one up, we would meet in the nicest park in the most pretentious neighborhood around. Perhaps Brookline or Wellesley.
The building below is a Conservatory of Flowers, however we did not make it there in time to see the inside because it closed at 5:00 pm.

I really wanted a snack while in the park however, I wasn't able to find anything satisfactory. We went to several stands which either did not have what I wanted, or were closed. We walked to Stow Lake, which is more of a canal than a lake, because there is a large island in the center that causes the body of water to have a sort of doughnut or "o" shape.

We continued walking quite a ways taking in the scenery, however at some point in the interest of saving time we hopped on a Bus to get to Ocean Beach. The windmill seen below is part of Golden Gate Park adjacent to the beach.

The sun was beginning to set when we arrived at the beach. There were several large groups of people there huddled around a few bonfires. Kate's guidebook suggested that this is a popular activity that occurs here.

A look from the beach back towards the city. The neighborhood was very safe, don't be fooled by the prevalence of graffiti on the retaining wall.

Ahhh...

For supper we headed back towards the town center and stopped in the Western Addition on Divisadero St. to go to Little Star Pizza. Little Star makes an excellent deep dish pie. It has a sort of hipster atmosphere and my only complaint about the place was the noise level. Because of the shallow dining room proportions there was a significant echo such that the talking of the patrons made it difficult to hear Kate, as well as the music playing. They had an excellent selection in their jukebox, largely because I felt it was very close to my own music collection. I was tempted to go up there and take notes to see if it could suggest bands and albums that were absent from my own catalog.

Afterwards it was that time of night, and we hopped back on the bus to go back to the Holiday Inn.

Day 5 in San Francisco, part 2

2010-05-13T23:16:00.006-04:00

OK, so I wanted to start with descending Telegraph hill, but sadly I really don't have any pictures of this. I think Kate may have taken some, and if so I will have to post them, because it may have been the prettiest part of the city. We went down the Greenwich Street Stairs, which wind through beautiful gardens and homes built on essentially a cliff side over looking the Bay.

When we arrived at the waterfront I was snapping a picture of this crab. Crabs are to San Francisco as what Lobsters are for Maine. We were going to take pictures of many different crabs that we saw throughout the city, however this idea never materialized. While I was trying to snap Kate in a solo shot, I nice chap offered to take our picture together. Below is the result, the crabs claws are cut off, but otherwise not too shabby.Below is a view out the F train window that we boarded. This train had an interior that reminded me of a school bus. It was really retro, and I really dug it. Through the window you can catch a glimpse of Lotta's Fountain. This is a San Francisco landmark, largely because it was one of the few structures to survive the 1906 earthquake, and it served as a meeting point and a symbol of hope to the citizens in the aftermath. I wanted to get a better picture, however the silly bus zooming by got in my way. As Kate said, at the very least it makes for an interesting shot.The school bus-like interior. Isn't it fantastic?Typically in this day in age when we hear someone say "Civic Center" we think of some where we might go to see a concert, the circus, the ice capades or watch a hockey game. However in San Francisco the Civic Center equates to a large area that is composed of public buildings including city hall and the library. A large "Mall" or pedestrian plaza connects the buildings and is known as UN plaza. The area is also home to an opera house, symphony hall, and hall of records. It was very vacant there when we went (It was the weekend), and it is sort of close to the Tenderloin, actually it is pretty much in it, so you really don't want to stray too far from these buildings or you will be in the epi-center of the town's down trodden. On the way there we passed through a still thriving (if you can call it that) red light/ adult district. When I was a kid nearly ever town of a reasonable size on east coast had a neighborhood like this. Even Lewiston, ME had its lower Lisbon St. filled with adult cinemas, pawn shops and adult book stores. Thankfully in most places these undesirables have disappeared. Part of UN plaza seen above.
City Hall, I half expect to see some tumble weed, or tumble trash as it might have been here. This is where Harvey Milk was assassinated along with the San Francisco mayor George Moscone, by another deranged city supervisor. Harvey Milk is a great movie, I saw it on one of my many plane trips to Spain over the past year. Sean Penn may be a wee bit out of touch with reality, but the guy can act, and he's made some great films through the years.

This building, Mission San Francisco de Asís , is the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco. It was dedicated in 1791. This newer and very Spanish looking church is adjacent to the Mission. When we walked by they were holding a wedding. The Mission district is actually named for these structures which lie on the perimeter.This is a shot of Mission Street. It is a very busy neighborhood, with the type of foot traffic you come to expect in NYC neighborhoods. It is loud, aromatic, and has a edgy, and yet somehow a close knit feel to it. The side walk had accents (colored tiles) much like they often do in various chinatowns. The area is also known for its murals painted on buildings. A McDonalds- the traditional flat one story type, has a location here and is completely covered in murals. Some examples of the murals and the colorful store fronts with a Latin flare.Our guidebook said this place had the best burritos in town. LaTaqueria is said to be a favorite for locals rather than a popular tourist destination. They even had "head" tacos on the menu. I stuck with the carnitas burrito, a side of chips and salsa, which Kate and I split (AWESOME pico de gallo salsa- tons of cilantro and onions!). Kate went with the always good- chicken burrito. We originally wanted to go to a taco truck, but the only ones we saw were Ecuadorian. I'm assuming there are more around on week days.

I'll pick up where we walk off our hearty lunch!

Day 5 Begins

2010-05-11T23:52:00.004-04:00

Happy Donut, what a way to start out our morning. We walked north up Van Ness St. to pick up a bus towards Telegraph Hill & Coit Tower and along the way we stumbled upon this gem. We picked up a coffee and a donut to share, which were quite satisfying. It appeared to be a family run venture, although we did come across other "Happy Donut" locations in San Francisco.

Coit Tower, another San Francisco landmark beckoned to us to be climbed as we ascended Telegraph Hill from Washington Square in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco.

Here is a look downhill towards Saint Peter & Paul's adjacent to Washington Square.

Coit Tower cost $5 to get to the top however, we felt this was something we needed to do. The inside of the tower is very retro which seemed to fit its Art Deco architecture. It is operated by a Chinese family. An old Chinese woman took us up in the elevator which was one of the old fashioned manually operated ones complete with a metal black retracting gate. Each time the elevator stopped it was uneven with the floor we were going to. The woman always warned us of the step, however her English was poor. The inside of the elevator was plastered with information on the tower so she didn't have to talk. Additionally displayed were many post cards and posters that were available for purchase downstairs. There are some murals in the base of the tower, historical because they were commissioned as part of the New Deal (The first stimulus- also somewhat unsuccessful in achieving economic recovery).

This picture is slightly out of order. I took this from the top of Pioneer park where the tower is located. Below are several pictures from the top of the tower.

Tomorrow I'll continue with our descent down the back side of Telegraph Hill.

Day 4 Much More Roaming Before the Sun Sets

2010-05-10T20:30:00.008-04:00

After debating a little over whether we were hungry or not we decided to go to the In-N-Out Burger near Fisherman's Wharf when we got off the Alcatraz boat. We were right there so it would have been simply insane not to go. In-N-Out was on our list after we saw my cousin's husband Ryan pick up some drive through there when we were in Arizona. Because we are openly chainers (chainer- a person who frequents chain restaurants with little to no inhibition or reservations), this was a pilgrimage that had to be made. In-N-Out was good, however I'm not sure I think it really was much different then Wendy's. Both offer "unfrozen burgers" and claim to serve "real food" that isn't artificial. (what exactly is artificial food?) In-N-Out might have better fries, although it is close. I think more than anything, In-N-Out is simply a novelty, that will wear out in time just like Krispy Kremes (which crashed and burned) and Cold Stone Creamery (before everyone realized they were paying for really expensive blizzards, long live DQ!). When our bellies were filled we began our journey. First on the list see Lombard's curvy part in the day light.

Behold its glory! We walked up the stairs alongside the road. Kate wanted to take some pictures of ourselves in front of it. I think I did take a couple of her with her camera, but was still a little crotchety, perhaps I had not metabolized that cheeseburger yet and my blood sugar was low. There was a lot of traffic on the path too, and for whatever reason I found myself needlessly impatient. I think I was disappointed there were no flowers blooming, regardless it was still very pretty.After Lombard St. we made a pit stop at the Hotel before heading west to Japantown. Above you can see the gateway to a plaza that contained fountains and rock gardens. You can see a pagoda like structure off in the background. I was impressed to the degree the Japanese had influenced the decor of this neighborhood. Much of it appeared to be newer construction than Chinatown, so it was perhaps easier to influence its appearance for its inhabitants. The picture below is from inside Japan Center which is a fairly extensive indoor mall. There were many restaurants, sushi and tea bars, some grocery stores, comic book stores, toy stores, as well as gift shops. It wasn't incredibly touristy and seemed to be patronized largely by Japanese Americans and perhaps Japanese visitors. It looks as though there would be some great restaurants to try out, if I ever go back I'll keep it in mind.This alley (Cottage Row) had some older construction in it and our guidebook told us to check it out. It is essentially a narrow pedestrian path with entrances to homes surrounded by immaculate gardens. There were a couple small public park areas with benches. I think I have my eyes closed here. I took two similar shots of Kate where she also either is blurry or has her eyes closed. As I don't really mind looking like a fool in such circumstances, here I am.Japantown is part of the "Western Addition" which grew after parts of it survived the 1906 earthquake which destroyed much of San Francisco. From Japantown we headed to the Fillmore on our way to the Presidio. The main street, "Fillmore St." is filled with cafes, restaurants, bars, and notably jazz clubs. It is tough to imagine that this neighborhood was "blighted" or rough around the edges 20 years ago, because today it has the feel of a yuppie community such as Brookline, MA, albeit with a hipster edge.This interesting looking church was in The Fillmore.We hopped on a bus eventually and let ourselves off at the gateway to The Presidio, a large park and historic area much of which used to be a military base.Upon getting to the Presidio we found a community shuttle and took it to Baker Beach. The Beach is famous for spectacular view of The Golden Gate Bridge, and perhaps infamous for being a nude beach. It was too cold out for us to be voyeurs, regardless we did have fun watching people play with their dogs and taking in the rays. We walked down the beach and decided on a whim to follow "The coastal trail". Apparently there is much more of this trail that we did not get to see, but what we did see was spectacular.A brief portion of the trail took us through a upper class neighborhood filled with BMWs, Jaguars, and Astin Martins. The homes were gorgeous and the gardens a sight to see in their own right. It felt like we were in the set for one of those basic cable night time soap operas. Moving along we walked to a secluded oasis "China Beach" surrounded by McMansions on the cliffs and the crashing surf. Next we headed into the wild along the coast as the homes gave way to more land that was untouched by development. I was getting really tired, especially as I had not slept too good the night before. While we were trying to find the elusive "Inspiration Point" I inhaled a bug which added to a growing need to collapse somewhere and pout. I kept coughing for about a half hour after this. So far I haven't contracted some horrible bug borne disease so I guess I'll survive. The structure below is the Legion of Honor (an Art Museum). The Legion of Honor was closed when we arrived, however since we were all about seeing the as much of the city as possible in the good weather, paying for an indoor exhibit was pretty much not going to happen. This was where we eventually caught a bus back to the city. We had to make another connection in a quiet neighborhood called the Outer Richmond which we would return to again on our trip.We decided we were going to have Italian food in North Beach which is the Italian neighborhood in San Francisco. We looked over our guidebook extensively to find a place. Funnily enough the place we ended up choosing was almost at the far end of the district, and when we got there we found a homeless man sleeping in the doorway. It had gone out of business. We ended up walking around a little flustered before choosing a restaurant I had seen an ad for in our hotel. I forgot to take a picture of it so I took the photo of the photo published in the Holiday Inn tourist guide. We had a great meal, Kate had a pasta dish with a bolognese sauce, and I had a seafood pasta dish that yes, had prawns in it. After dinner we worked off the food with a hike up the Greenwich Street to the west. Sections of the street become exclusively stairs, and near the peak of the hill there were some spectacular night time views of the city. We were tired and eager to get back to the hotel and rest up for our next day.

Day 4 pt 2 Alcatraz

2010-05-05T23:17:00.005-04:00

Hello readers. Sorry for the day off, I actually had all of the pictures loaded up for this entry yesterday, but found myself too tired to write in the captions. I end up writing a lot of these posts at times that should be past my bed time, and as a result they tend to be filled with typos galore.
Anyway, lets continue where I left off, shall we?
The official Alcatraz experience begins as they unloaded the boat (which is rocking in the current as they unload it) onto a wharf. Adjacent to this wharf is a basement level entry to an older building that dates back to the civil war era. Part of this is dedicated to a bookstore, and visitors center. A guide greets us when we arrive giving us a brief synopsis of the history of the island. The guide was a young college aged man, and Kate made the comment that she couldn't imagine having to give the same speech over and over again all day long. In a typical response for me, I said I didn't think that it seemed like that bad of a gig, especially for a student/ summer job. But then of course I usually washed dishes or was a cashier at a grocery store. One story in the colorful history of Alcatraz is made very evident by graffiti on the side of this older building proclaiming "This is Indian Land". Apparently in 1969 an 18 month occupation of the abandoned island occurred when Native Americans took a stand there as a political statement.

Moving along we made a hike up a snaking road to the entrance of the prison which was further up the hill. There was actually one of those golf-cart pulled trains that was available to help senior citizens make the trek. Here we entered the prison in what was the showering area (yes entering through the showering room, just like in Shawshank Redemption). We picked up our complementary audio guide headphones which the guide claimed were available in "every language". I was partially tempted to ask for Swahili or perhaps even Romanian to test this, but then I thought better of it.
The first cell we saw. No bed for whatever reason. Dull green walls, this place has the same kind of decor as the Catholic school that I attended grades K through 3rd at (sans chalk board and God themed Bulletin board of course)!

This cell block (That's a nice shade of pink isn't it? Then again, perhaps it is more of a peach)
was named "Broadway" by the prisoners. There was another area with a clock featured prominently on the wall that prisoners deemed "Times Square". A guide came out and demonstrated the mechanism that allows them to open and close the cell doors from a remote location. It is done with a series of complicated pulleys and was pretty impressive to say the least. The doors make a large clink when they shut, and when they shut all at once it is nearly deafening. It is believed that the nick name for prison "the clink" may have partially originated from this system in Alcatraz which is thought to be unique. Really interesting is how different combinations of doors could be opened and with a seemingly simplistic set of levers at the end of a hallway.

Here is a cell with a bed. I don't know what would be worse, staying in this tiny room, or not having much in the way of privacy. I suppose after a while you might stop caring about that.

This is the recreation yard for the prisoners where they would play horseshoes, baseball, etc. It actually was sort of pleasant out there, and I could see why the prisoners would value it so much.

These cells housed some of the criminally insane prisoners. Ironically they were considered to be nicer cells due to the sunlight that comes in. I believe this is the area that both Al Capone and The Birdman "Robert Stroud" did some time in. Stroud had a private holding room that I've seen featured on several TV programs (Including Ghost Hunters) that I did not get to see. I'm assuming it was closed for repairs/cleaning etc.

This was taken from inside a solitary confinement cell. The complete cell is behind a cinder block wall and windowless door. This is from within looking outwards.

Kate is here chilling in the library. I think the library needs some prop books. The guide said that prisoners during Alcatraz's days of operation tended to read the classics, as opposed to now days when I think of prisoners reading smutty magazines or cheap paperback novels. Or perhaps just watching Jerry Springer or something. Hopefully that isn't the case, but I wouldn't be at all surprised.

This cell has some prisoner's art work to provide an exhibition of how someone might personalize their cell over the years.

The lighthouse on the island is quite imposing and seems to match the severe nature of the island, which is not much more than a large rock jutting out of the San Francisco Bay.

The audio guide spent a great deal of time going into detail about the two escape attempts. This paper mache dummy seen above was actually made by prisoners in the second escape attempt which is rumored to have been successful, as the five men who fled in a hand made raft were never found. Some people liked to claim that they would have drowned in the waters, but it is likely the actual dangers of the waters were greatly exaggerated to serve as good PR for the prison and make San Francisco natives feel safe. Support for this theory can be taken from the many people who swim to Alcatraz now on a yearly basis, usually for charitable causes. A guide apparently said even a few children made the trek last year.

It may not seem so with a cursory glance, however this picture does have a purpose. The first major escape attempt ended up in a violent standoff where several prisoners essentially took control of the compound taking several guards hostage. Known as the "Battle of Alcatraz" it lasted two days and was only ended when the Marines showed up to intervene. The picture above shows some pock marks created by grenades that the Marines had strategically dropped in during the battle to take back control.

This area is outside the officers quarters. It was gorgeous outside and I took 20 minutes or so to just take it all in. It also shows again, how close the city is.

The audio guide described how the sounds of San Francisco would occasionally waft into the prison. A favorite time of year for the prisoners was said to be New Years Eve because they could hear the celebrations on the water front. Prisoners were said to join in, making music with their cups and silverware on the bars of their cell. A couple of the occupants actually took up instruments during their imprisonment. Guards were said to occasionally overlook strict curfews regarding music for such an occasion.

Looking out at Bay Bridge through the ruins of some Civil War era structures.

This is taken in the mess hall. The canister that you see in the center of this photo is a tear gas tank, just in case things got out of control. It is my understanding that they were never used. The mess hall was said to have good food (surprising right?). One prison riot was actually started over prisoners being particularly unhappy with an unpopular spaghetti dinner. Control was quickly acquired when a guard on duty discharged his gun through a window, breaking it, to get the attention of the prisoners and show that he meant business.

This was on the way out. We actually headed into the older building that I described earlier (and I included a photo of it in the prior post). It held some exhibits regarding the history of the island prior to the prison that it is famous for. There were a couple of films to watch here, however Kate and I (Kate is above with her hat on) decided to prioritize our time and head back into San Francisco. We had spent a couple of hours there and we had a lot more exploring to do back on shore.

The boat ride back was gorgeous. We sat on the top deck to get the most out of the journey. The weather couldn't have been better, and it served as a great break before we would inevitably be climbing the hills of San Francisco again.

Day 4 Begins

2010-05-04T23:32:00.003-04:00

We started this morning by heading into Union Square where we were originally going to eat at Sears Fine Foods, a San Francisco "Institution" that specializes in half dollar sized pancakes, however we got scared away by the price. Sadly the place we went was just as expensive, mediocre, and sort of lacking character. From the outside it fooled us into thinking that it may have been an older time honored establishment, but sadly it was all just a mask for essentially an over priced chain style restaurant. Lori's Diner is as prefab as you get and you are essentially paying for the location. Our booth had one of those little jukeboxes, but it did not work. Walls are adorned with 1950s memorabilia and there was an arcade in the back for the kiddies. It would have been quite at home in a Six Flags. I found a review online after the fact calling it a "total tourist trap". Well it did trap us, but only because we were in a rush- for no reason it turns out.

We got on the F line to head towards our next attraction. The F line is composed of different old electric trolleys from all over the world. This one was from Melbourne, Australia.

Alcatraz was what all of the rushing and anxiety was about. We were misled to believe we needed to be at the wharf where it leaves an hour early. We made it on time with much to spare, and I was a little grumpy about it to say the least. It was warm in the sun and it essentially felt like an amusement park. Check out the logo above- it reminds me of the logo used in the Jurassic Park movie. This is a government run National Park, however there is no question that they have totally sold out. A long snaking line, expensive snacks, and an offer for people to take a fake Alcatraz picture of you and your loved ones. They take them, and then have them up on the wall when you leave- just like when you exit a roller coaster at Bush Gardens. Pretty sad really.

Upon landing on the island this is the first foreboding site you see, one of the older buildings which dates back to the end of the civil war. To be continued.

Day 3: Part 3

2010-05-04T00:30:00.003-04:00

After our adventures on the Marin county coast we were pretty famished. We decided on Chef Jia's after mulling over options in the guidebook. Our San Francisco food experience was overall a great one, and this was a fine example of an excellent meal. I ordered a bowl of hot & sour soup to start which turned out to be huge so Kate and I shared it. Kate enjoyed it despite the presence of prawns in it. (I got to eat all of the prawns which was a major score). This soup was awesome, easily the best hot & sour soup I've ever had. It had the mushrooms, tofu, and bamboo slices you come to expect in hot & sour soup, however the broth was much lighter compared to what we are used to on the East coast. I had Kung Pao prawns for the main course (yes more prawns), and Kate had cashew chicken. The food was hot and fresh and it hit the spot.

Kate directed us on a extensive tour of Chinatown, and my pictures don't do it justice. It is colorful, busy and, really just sort of exciting. This is more than I can say for NYC's Chinatown which is largely a haven for con artists and knock off merchandise vendors. I'm not saying they weren't in San Francisco's Chinatown, of course they were, but where in NYC they define the neighborhood, here they only accent it. The buildings and decorations are generally more attractive here. There are a couple of parks, and some great little alleys that are supposed to (according to our guidebook) show a glimpse of the residential area of Chinatown. Flushing Queens may be a more "real" Chinese American community, but Chinatown San Francisco for lack of a better term, is fun.

After Chinatown we walked by the Transamerica pyramid building. There is a redwood grove adjacent to the building that serves as a private park for the employees which the guidebook made note of.
We walked quickly through North Beach after visiting Chinatown. Along the way we saw Jack Kerouac Alley, See this link for more images, Washington Square, and Saint Peter and Paul Church, pictured below.
Afterwards we headed back into Chinatown to pick up a bus back towards the hotel. Another fulfilling day in the city by the Bay.

Day 3: Marin County Road Trip part 2

2010-04-28T23:18:00.007-04:00

After visiting the Muir woods we drove north up the coast to Stinson Beach. This photo below is from the first overlook that we stopped at. It was absolutely breathtaking, and this is just one of those instances where the photographs will never do the experience justice.

An interesting looking dead tree that continues to support a lot of life.The drive up the coast was surreal. It was exhilarating to drive along the curvy, dangerous road along the cliffs that fall off quickly to the crashing pacific below. I only wish there had been a way to capture more pictures along the way. I didn't really capture the road itself in a photo which had hairpin turns not unlike those I drove on in the Rockies outside of Jerome AZ. or in the Black Hills in S.D. We stopped at Stinson Beach and walked around a while taking in the gorgeous day. It was cool, but there were actually some hearty souls out taking a dip, surfing, and tanning. Stinson Beach was quiet, however, this little town showed all the signs of being a booming tourist haven and getaway from the city during the summer. It had a quaint main strip with shops restaurants and small inns, adjacent to a large parking lot for the beach. The beach is over 3 miles long and I'm sure serves as a popular place to cool of in the summer with its proximity to the cities of the bay. This photo is Kate attempting to get a read on how cold the Pacific is this time of year. There is a tough little kid standing in the water off to the right. There were signs by the shower facilities warning swimmers of great white sharks which apparently call these waters home. On the way back towards San Francisco we stopped at the first overlook hoping to get some sucker to snap a photo of us. A nice older couple helped us out and talked to us for a while. Kind of a weird pose for me, but a great picture of a great memory regardless. We headed to Point Bonita lighthouse and were disappointed to find out that it was closed.It was closed for a good cause. The harbor seals nest in the areas seen below. We could actually see a mother seal feeding her pups, however it was too far away to get a good photo without having some really good equipment.Here is Kate next to the closed gate of a tunnel that leads through the ledge to the closed lighthouse (trying to look disappointed). There was a tiny window in this door and we were able to peer into the dark damp tunnel. Kate claimed to see a mouse scurrying about inside the tunnel.On the way out of the park we saw a deer, however the only photo Kate could get was of its but, which wasn't particularly picturesque. The Golden Gate Bridge is seen below coming around the steep hills headed back towards San Francisco from Point Bonita. Next: The conclusion of Day 3: Chinatown and North Beach.

Day 3: Road Adventure Begins! Muir Woods

2010-04-27T21:09:00.006-04:00

We woke up Thursday morning and headed a block from the hotel to pick up our reserved compact car. I was pleased to see the car was a Pontiac Vibe, which is essentially a Toyota Matrix with a Pontiac symbol slapped on it. It was a comfortable car, however I did find the acceleration to be uneven and tough to get used to. Additionally the automatic shifter was on the dash and I accidentally knocked the car into neutral once when I was looking over my shoulder at traffic.

After getting situated in the car we headed down Lombard St. and over the Golden Gate bridge which is a surprisingly narrow 4 lanes. We got off at the wrong exit at first, however we quickly got back on track and headed towards the Muir woods.

Most of these images are self explanatory. Kate with the Vibe, she obviously wasn't expecting this photo.

Kate emphasizing the height of the trees.

Kate demonstrating a tree cutting as a timeline.Those pretty trees are really tall.That is one wide tree that I'm standing in front of.Holy Redwood Batman! I'm walking on a tree! (It was chilly in the forest!)Kate is seen here brown-plastic-bagging it. Her eco-friendly stainless steel water bottle leaked all over her bag on the first day of the trip. The plastic bag became an aggravating yet effective means of preventing a recurrence of this leak. Banana Slug! Ahhh wildlife.This was our lunch! The Muir woods cafe. It was a bit on the pricey side but the sandwiches made with organic ingredients were actually quite tasty.Here I am inside the base of a tree! One more look at the trees.

We went for a long hike in the forest up a seemingly large hill. It took us through many groves of the Sequoia out of the valley. As we neared the top of the peak the trees diminished in size, however not quite enough to provide a view of the ocean. Along the trail were many bridges made of fallen trees, as well as a large tree that had a gap in the base that you could walk into (as seen above). Returning to the visitor's center a woman warned us that a fawn (newborn deer) had fallen into the path. She was headed off to get a ranger and we stood guard to warn other people. It was still breathing and moving slightly, however it appeared that it may had fallen off a ledge and may have been injured. Kate snapped a photo (which we debated whether it would be OK to do) and perhaps I'll post it later when she provides me some copies. When the ranger came we let her handle things and headed off to lunch. The park had become very busy by this time and we were glad we managed to get there early in the morning when it was still peaceful.

Next we'll take a ride up the rocky Pacific coast!

Day 2 conclusion- Evening in San Francisco

2010-04-25T22:13:00.007-04:00

Wednesday evening after returning to the city we thought about our plans and where we'd like to eat. We were going to take a cable car through Nob Hill by Lombard St., however the line was down for repairs and we decided just to walk up to Union Square instead. The column seen above forms the center of a park in Union Square and is a monument to Commodore George Dewey who led the American Navy to victory over a fleet of Spanish ships in 1898. Union square is essentially like San Francisco's Times Square. There is a ton a foot traffic, many touristy eateries, and a lot of places to shop.

This Saks Fifth Avenue is off the square. I wanted to capture the vintage animated neon sign on the old art deco high rise behind the store, however the photo does not do it justice.

The park in the center of Union Square.

After leaving Union Square it was one of the few times during the trip that we had some transit difficulties. We wanted to get up towards Lombard St. but couldn't determine the best way to do it. We inadvertently headed west, which probably took us closer to the Tenderloin than we perhaps should have been as dark was approaching. We had a rather comical moment at a bus stop where Kate was so absorbed in looking at a map that she didn't notice the two guys packing a crack pipe (or something) in the seat booth. They were minding their own business, and I didn't notice the drugs until I got a concerned look, and a smile from a pedestrian walking by that said "I hope you know what you are doing". It was at this point that I noticed one of the men had dropped some of their fix of choice on the pavement. He was licking the tips of his finger to pick up the crumbs and put it into the pipe. At this point I tugged on Kate's jacket and lightly whispered "come on" and we walked a block (up a steep hill of course) to an unoccupied bus stop. The neighborhoods didn't really seem unsafe, and most of the people waking the streets were well to do professionals. The picture above with the neon garage sign was from that area. I believe we ended up heading back towards Van Ness where the hotel was, and then caught a bus towards Russian Hill. We walked up the hill from Van Ness in the direction of Lombard St. Our adventure took us through some picturesque parks built on terraces that had signs warning us of coyotes in the area.

Eventually we made it to the top, and tried to take some shots of Lombard St. at night. It is incredibly difficult to use a digital camera in the dark. Below is the best shot of several that I snapped.

Next we headed down Hyde st. to Za's Pizza where we had a delicious meal that definitely hit the spot. There was a wait, however it was a cozy little/ bar cafe with a great down-to-earth atmosphere and a good beer selection which I took advantage of.
Afterwards we headed back to the hotel and rested up for what would be a big day on the road into Marin County.

Day 2; pt 2 Berkeley

2010-04-22T22:36:00.006-04:00

As mentioned previously, from Oakland we got back on the BART (Kate called it the BARF, although there wasn't anything nauseating or gross about it) and headed to the hippie haven of Berkeley.

We were very, very hungry upon our arrival and we scoured the main street for a place to eat. Our guide books didn't give many suggestions, and many of the top choices available were too chainish (one of our top choices was a place called BurgerMeister-- which we later discovered was a chain). On a side street leading towards the University and Telegraph Avenue, we found Razan's Organic Kitchen which totally seemed like the Berkeley thing to do. The food was pretty good and they had a nice little dining area upstairs that was quiet and comfortable. Kate had a chicken burrito, and I had falafel wrap sandwich called an "Egyptian Wrap". Proud to say I went veggie when I ate in Berkeley. We split a order of blue chips and salsa. The salsa was fabulous, fresh cilantro tomatoes and onions, pico de gallo at its best. Kate refused to smile with her food, convinced that she would have a piece of something green in her teeth, so I suggested the eating pose. Funnily enough you can tell she is smiling anyway. I as Kate said "appear to be making love to my wrap sandwich". Hey, what can I say, it was good.

I suggested that Kate appear as a student at Berkeley, but I think the shot is too obvious. I should have had her mingle in a crowd, or get further away.

The campus is gorgeous, many quiet places of solitude, beautiful lawns, rolling hills, and majestic trees. Some students (and I suspect locals) were lazing about on the beautiful day we had.

Sather Tower shown ahead is the signature piece of architecture that dominates the campus. Kate and I took an elevator ride to the top of its 30 stories for the view. An elevator attendee gave us a brief history, and told us that the intermediate floors were used as storage for dinosaur bones, and some makeshift lab space.

Views from the top were impressive, and the breeze coming off of the bay was soothing.

There are a series of bells in the tower which are actually played multiple times a day via a keyboard, which is in a glass enclosed room in the center of the observation deck. The elevator guide told us that students can take a class to learn how to play. The class is actually good for credit, and it has a long wait list to get into because of its popularity.

The reason I took the shot below is that it is the sciences building. On the left it reads "Biochemistry", on the right it reads "Psychology". Kate thought it kind of represented our relationship- as our education majors were essentially paired here in stone.

The trees below, which I've since learned are eucalyptus trees, grow to impressive heights of up to 200 feet.

After walking around the campus for some time, we took in Telegraph Ave. First we grabbed some refreshing iced tea from the local Walgreens. We walked up and down the busy portion, taking in the students, hippies, pan-handlers, and homeless. We checked out People's Park which we did not photograph because it was essentially covered with homeless people gathered socially, sleeping, or sitting in what appeared to be semi-long term make shift open residences. Rasputin Music seen below is a well known music store on Telegraph Ave. I wasn't impressed with the selection, and it made me acutely aware of how the age of mp3s and Amazon has destroyed the magic of these stores. Newbury Comics locations on Newbury Street or at Quincy Market are just as good, if not better.

We decided after taking all of this in that we wanted to get back to San Francisco for supper. Additionally, the BART trains become more limited in service later in the day. Before leaving we bought big cookie from a store. Kate was chastised by the clerk for not buying more- weird eh? Next up: 2nd day finale: Evening in the city.

Day 2, pt 1: Oakland

2010-04-21T23:31:00.002-04:00

We began Wednesday morning by having a light breakfast at a locale bagel shop. In the tradition of taking pictures of places we eat, below is "Star Bagels" complete with a sexy Russian lady adorning the billboard above. If you shop at Russian International Trading Inc., you too can look like a circa 1960s Bond villaness. So after I finished my croissant and Kate ate a bagel with copious amounts of cream cheese, we headed down to Embarcadero station and picked up the BART. It took us on a swift ride under the bay to Oakland. Admittedly I was a bit leery about exploring the 5th most dangerous city in the U.S., however, I was pleased that most of the city exceeded my expectations.

The main station in downtown Oakland empties out into an outdoor shopping mall. As it was early on a Wednesday it was pretty dead, but I can see where it would be a nice place to eat if you worked nearby, or a good place to shop provided it was convenient for you.

Oakland was having a Earth Day fair. Many non profits and government agencies were set up handing out information packets and various trinkets (which I'm certain were all produced with the greenest of intentions).

Kate scored some "U.S. Census" potato chip bag closers. Since we pretty much paid for them any way, Kate grabbed several. Thank you stimulus!

Chinatown in Oakland was pretty busy. It kind of reminded me of Flushing in NYC's Queens, however it is not quite as big.

From Chinatown we headed to a shopping/ nightlife district on the waterfront named for Jack London of "Call of the Wild" fame. Apparently London was a Oakland native.

London himself in front of the Marina, on the harbor.

There is a small boardwalk in Jack London Square where I quickly snapped Kate taking a picture. She probably was capturing some historic boats which are moored there, or the enormous cranes unloading cargo in the distance.

The following photo is the USS Potomac, once serving as FDR's yacht. Elvis actually owned this boat at one time before San Francisco ultimately seized it from Drug Smugglers in the 1980s. It actually sank to the bottom of the harbor before being restored to its current condition.

The following boat The Relief, is actually a floating light house. It was built in Boothbay Maine.

I snapped this photo of a fine residence in a bad neighborhood we did manage to stumble into while looking for a "Chinese Garden". We found the garden which was almost under an over pass, only accessible through a Chinese Seniors Rec center, an aside from the nicely manicured front lawn was over grown and unsightly.

Next we headed to Lake Merritt which is a nice oasis near Oakland's downtown. We enjoyed the great weather and took a relaxing stroll in the park.

Included in the park is a very old children's theme park called "Fairyland". It is said to be the inspiration for Walt Disney to create Disneyland.

Before hopping on another BART train to Berkley we snapped a couple photos of some gorgeous Art Deco buildings in Oakland's downtown.

To be continued with Berkley

City By the Bay: Day 1

2010-04-20T22:49:00.015-04:00

Kate and I began last Tuesday at Logan, waiting for our flight to board. With no McDonalds in our terminal, we settled on some French Toast from Johnny Rocket's. The service was slow but the grub was actually decent. Our Jet Blue flight was uneventful and we busied ourselves watching our TVs built into the seats, munching on the snacks, reading, and occasionally dozing off.

Upon arriving in San Francisco we waited for our bags while listening to an announcer unenthusiastically recite directions to the travelers in an accent that sounded slightly "surfer dude". Our transit into the city center of San Francisco turned out to be fairly simple. We purchased our week long MUNI passport (San Francisco's city Mass Transit. Next we hopped on the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) after buying a one-way pass for $8.10. Like many airports, SFO is actually quite far outside the city and transit would have cost much more by cab or shuttle. The BART is actually just a long distance "commuter" subway system that looks and feels almost exactly like the Metro subway system in D.C. Once in San Francisco we hopped on the 1 bus line which took us to a stop 1 block from our hotel, the Gateway Holiday Inn. Kate booked the room and was offered a free upgrade to the 21st floor. We originally were on the 6th, and I'm sure this upgrade probably made a big difference in terms of the street noise. Van Ness Avenue which runs by the hotel, apparently replaced the central artery after the earthquake destroyed it in 1989. Surprisingly the traffic wasn't too bad, and although there was some noise, it didn't compare to NYC.

A couple shots of the view from the hotel. It was a little hazy the first day, but it was probably in the mid sixties Fahrenheit. We had few complaints about the weather.

After "unpacking" which for us means dropping off the suitcases, we took the "California St." cable car line down to Embarcedaro station next to the old San Francisco Ferry building.

Embarcedaro is actually one of the busier stations in San Francisco. It connects the Muni underground, the BART line (which we came in on), the F-line which is an electric trolley system, and the cable car line from California St. It runs from the Castro to a turn-around about a block from Fisherman's Wharf. The Ferry Building area is home to public markets, open pedestrian spaces that frequently were filled with arts and craft stands, various coffee shops and eateries, as well as gourmet food shops. There was an entire store in the Ferry building dedicated to mushrooms, and another dedicated to "pig parts".

Entrance to a Muni/Bart station with the F-train running in the background.

This is a view of the Bay Bridge which is a two part span that connects Oakland and San Francisco. It contains two layers of traffic, and at one time it continued through the city itself as a raised highway/central artery before getting damaged in the 1989 quake. I recall seeing it on TV because if I recall correctly the Sox were playing the Oakland A's at the time.

There are several historic boats that serve as museums along the San Francisco waterfront. This is an old ferry, complete with a paddle wheel.

A view of the Transamerica pyramid from a pier.

This is the Ferry building. The area is essentially San Francisco's equivalent of Quincy Market, however, where Boston focuses on quick/ prepared local favorites and ethnic food, the Ferry building contains gourmet foods that are often unprepared.

Palm trees and warm weather, ahhhh. Coit Tower is seen in the background on Telegraph hill. We take in that attraction from a closer vantage point later in the trip.

This is Fisherman's Wharf, home to many casual seafood eateries, often specializing in dungeness crab. This is San Francisco's claim to Sea Food greatness. Unfortunately I didn't find the ideal time to try it, however, it is my understanding that it wasn't in season.

The sea lions seen below were lounging outside of Pier 39. We stood around briefly watching these creatures bark, flap their flippers, and look lethargic.

We ended up eating on pier 39 which is essentially an outdoor mall with a tourist flare. Again, think Quincy Market. We chose a bar & grill that had a very over the top "California" beach theme. I had calamari and Kate had a teriyaki/ pineapple chicken sandwich. Both of course came with fries. It was too much food but I was starved. We walked it off afterwards, almost traveling all the way to another district of San Francisco, the Presidio.

From the end of pier 39 we had our first glimpse of Alcatraz. It is just over a mile out in the bay, however it seems much closer in person.

Musee Mecanique is a museum dedicated to antique arcade amusements. Among many fortune teller machines, movie viewers, pinball machines, and even the old Atari games were these politically incorrect gems.

Kate humored me and she treated me to a display of the "Opium Den" which cost a quarter.

The window in the back has a dragon to be "chased" and there is a skeleton that pops in and out of the door on the left.

Another shot of the festive "Fisherman's Wharf" area.

This shot of the sun setting was taken at Aquatic Park which is near Fort Mason. There were people swimming in here, it seemed a little cold honestly. Some of George Lucas's studios are near here in the Presidio.

Another historic vessel in the San Francisco harbor.

The old Ghiradelli Chocolate factory. We intended to get ice cream in a store there, however by the time we made it over it was unfortunately closed.

This is a photo from the breakwater in the San Francisco Maritime National Historic park.

Looking at the sun behind what was our first glimpse of the Golden Gate bridge.

This odd statue was located in a water front park in the Marina area of San Francisco.

The picture below shows the Golden Gate Bridge behind some of the buildings that make up Fort Mason. The shot below had some amusing graffiti on the sign, which was my primary reason for taking the picture. I have no idea what any of it means. A tribute to Aqua Teen Hunger Force perhaps?Above is a great shot of the Golden Gate Bridge with the Marina neighborhood in the foreground. Finally back at the hotel we shared a pint of top quality Walgreen's ice cream before heading to bed.

A Stroll in Belmont

2010-04-11T23:45:00.004-04:00

Kate and I took advantage of a pleasant Sunday to go walking around one of outer Boston's gems, Belmont. You can't find too many towns of this size that still have a vibrant town center built around a stand alone Macy's. It is surrounded by historic buildings, beautiful homes, and quaint New England churches and town office buildings. We began our day with a nice lunch at the Stone Hearth Pizza Company. They make thin crust pizzas and pride themselves on using organic and locale ingredients. The menu made several boasts about various things they do to be "green". The interior is cheerful and warm while exuding a touch of that hipster/yuppie look that so many places embrace these days. Kate and I ordered a banana pepper and sausage Pizza, which was good, although the banana peppers tended to overwhelm the taste. We also ordered some flat bread seasoned with Parmesan cheese and garlic. We asked for some sauce to go with it (apparently they don't usually serve it with sauce), which they provided without extra charge. The sauce was probably the best thing about Stone Hearth. It was evident that this was freshly made from tomatoes, and it had a very rich taste lacking any hints of tin or overwhelming spice which all too often reside in Pizza Parlor sauce.

Following this we made our way to the Habitat Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary. We had a nice time here walking around easy nature trails through the woods. There was a 4 dollar entry fee for non Belmont residents, which honestly seems a little much considering this is essentially a patch of woods with a few beaten down trails. I was glad to pay, figuring it went for a good cause. That being said, this is far from the most picturesque location for nature lovers in greater Boston, and most others are free.

After this we went to Beaver Brook Reservation in Belmont. This was a great little park consisting of some trails around a couple of ponds connected by cascading waterfalls. The ponds appear to have been artificially created for mills in the 19th century. Only the dams and some ruins remain. There were some nice picnic areas there, although anyone who uses them may find themselves keeping company with many ducks and geese. A separate portion of the park that Kate and I didn't visit contains various recreational facilities, including tennis courts, a ball field, a playground, and wading pools.

We ended our day with a couple of drinks from CVS, and some Mrs. Field's cookies.

I'll have one day of work this week and then Kate & I will be off for our Spring vacation. And it is really, really needed. It was originally planned as a long weekend away for Patriot's day (A Massachusetts Holiday). Initially we were going to take advantage of the Give a Day, Get a Day plan from Disney for volunteer work we did earlier this year. However, once we started looking at prices, even with the free pass to the park for a day, it was going to be sort of expensive with flight, car rental, and hotel, and then after the day at Magic Kingdom or Epcot we were struggling to find much to do with our time other than to go lounge on Cocoa Beach. While that certainly wouldn't be a bad thing, spending several hundred dollars to do it just wasn't appealing.

San Francisco has always been some place I'd wanted to go, so on a whim we looked it up. We found some amazing deals through travelocity, (they don't seem possible!) probably because their state is on the brink of bankruptcy. Originally we had only planned on going Thursday through Monday, however it actually turned out to be the same price for flight and hotel to add a couple days (I try not to question things like this). In San Francisco we don't have to rent a car because of mass transit, and the walkable nature of the city, that saves a lot of money. (Car rentals have really gone up over the past few years-pretty much doubled.) We have quite a few fun items on our itinerary including Alcatraz, Chinatown, Coit Tower, the Golden Gate Bridge, and of course the cable cars and Lombard St. Oh... and the taco trucks! I can't wait to visit them! We decided to rent a car one day and go to the Muir Woods which is a Redwood Forest nearby as well as check out Point Bonita Lighthouse. So for less money than the alternative we'll get to go exploring again, and I get to see the Pacific Ocean for the first time. I'll be sure to get pictures and blog per usual.

Centenarian Passes On

2010-04-06T23:03:00.000-04:00

Oldest American dies at 114 years old in Iowa
From Article: The Ames Historical Society says Morris was born Neva Freed on Aug. 3, 1895. She married Edward L. Morris in 1914.

An interesting link, note the number of Americans in this list of Centenarians relative to people from other countries. Must be our poor access to low quality healthcare. There is a Parks on the list. Hopefully we share some genes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_verified_oldest_people

Keep Up The Good Work

2010-04-04T22:40:00.002-04:00

Mr. President

Obama's 17-minute, 2,500-word response to woman's claim of being 'over-taxed'

Nice job with the clear answer.

And the list continues to grow....

2010-04-02T00:09:00.002-04:00

Exelon sees $65 mln charge due to healthcare reform

Verizon gets more specific on the damages:
Verizon to take $970M charge from health care bill

Eaton sees $25 mln charge for healthcare reform

Carpenter takes $5.9M health care charge

And Yet There's Even More of What We're in For

2010-04-01T00:25:00.002-04:00

Boeing, Goodrich Eye Health-Care Charges

"Boeing said it expects the legislation, which was signed last week, to reduce its net earnings by roughly $150 million, or 20 cents a share, during the first quarter."

"Goodrich said it expects to take a one-time charge of about $10 million, or 8 cents a share, during the first quarter as a result of the health-care overhaul."

Lockheed expects charge for health reform

"Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N), the world's largest defense contractor, said on Wednesday that it expects a first-quarter charge of about $96 million after tax, or about 25 cents a diluted share, from the recently enacted U.S. healthcare reform."

Honeywell Raises Q1 Guidance; Will Take Healthcare Charge (HON)

"Manufacturing conglomerate Honeywell International Inc. (HON) late Tuesday raised its first quarter guidance, but noted it would take a $13 million one-time charge related to the new Obamacare legislation."

ITW (Illinois Tool Works) sees health care reform costing $22M charge

Ingersoll-Rand sees $41M health care charge in 1Q

Xcel Energy to book $17M health care charge in 1Q

Allegheny Technologies to take $5 million health care charge in 1st quarter

All these companies obviously hate poor people. That is the only possible conclusion right?

More Reason to Hold on to my Antique MP3 Player

2010-03-30T20:11:00.002-04:00

Apple Boycotts Glenn Beck — Promotes Che Guevara

The idea that Beck promotes hate and violence is next to slander. They get upset because they call Obama a socialist- which is much nicer than the things the left are calling the Teaparty. Socialists aren't bad people- they are just naive. Racists and haters are bad people.

So they get upset that Obama is being called something that he is, and something that they agree with, and then they promote an unapologetic violent socialist. Of course all of the Rage Against the Machine fans and people who watched a selective film version of "Motorcycle Diaries" have an unrealistic and censored version of the true Che.

Please- read the article. Che Guevara was a monster and you need to know to what extent. And if you ever see someone you care about naively talking up Che- please, please inform them.

This is a tame quote from the article, but I find it incredibly ironic, such is why I'm sharing it:

“Youth must refrain from ungrateful questioning of governmental mandates. Instead they must dedicate themselves to study, work and military service. The very spirit of rebellion is reprehensible. (“Che is our fifth band member!” says Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello)

Even More of What We Are in For

2010-03-30T19:40:00.002-04:00

Verizon to Employees: We Expect Our Health-Care Costs to Rise

Prudential to take $100M health care charge in 1Q

Valero Foresees Health Care Hit
Expects $20 million charge, further tax costs

AK Steel Sees $31 Million Charge From New Health Law

The stumped authors of the bill are either genuinely perplexed, or trying to save face by requesting proof, almost implying that these companies are some how acting politically. That's right, it is really in these companies best interest to get share holders to sell stock. Stupak and Waxman request info

I Watched it....

2010-03-29T23:24:00.002-04:00

I finally watched "An Inconvenient Truth".
The thing is basically a 90 minute fear piece about impending doom due to humankind's contribution to climate change.

Now for the record, I don't doubt for one second that humankind is impacting the climate. What I find disingenuous is why it is exaggerated by some political factions for political leverage. There are polar opposites that are both radical philosophies on this issue. Gore and his ilk are trying to change the economies of the world to in his view- "Stop Global Warming". I want to genuinely believe that Gore thinks he can "Stop Global Warming" and that he is embarking on this quest with pure motives, however as a scientist, the simple laws of science defy the solutions that Gore and his kind trumpet. The same "evidence" that Gore presents to build his case, also builds a case that what he proposes is too little too late. Without human manipulation it will be impossible to bring Carbon dioxide levels back down to what is considered "normal" for our planet in our lifetime.

On the other side you have the likes of Rush Limbaugh who I think would deny its existence if the oceans rose ten feet in ten years. Limbaugh, much like many politicians is not trustworthy and just preaches what his audience expects to hear. There is not much creativity in his message, and it is often presented in an offensive and antagonistic way. Limbaugh (who I often question if he believes all of what he says) and loyalists have a manifest destiny view of the planet. That it is just here for us to plunder and that it was put here for us to use as we please- perhaps by God? I never understood the concept of divine approval of material consumption, it doesn't seem very Christian to me, but then again if you look hard enough in the Bible there probably is a passage somewhere to support whatever viewpoint you have.

He'll cite engineers hired by Exxon Mobil to refute the data of environmentalists, and cite conspiracy theories of how all the nations of the world are collectively trying to damn the United States with Kyoto, etc (even though they are damning themselves as well). He'll note Gore's spun data in his movie, and the leaked emails trying to cover up global cooling over the past ten years. He may be right on with those last two points, however, this does not dismiss humankind's impact on the climate.

Ice cores do show that we are impacting carbon dioxide, and while inconclusive, there is mounting data suggesting that global temperatures have been related to its presence (However in the past it seems higher CO2 follows higher temperature, rather than precedes it). The chemistry of the oceans are changing do to CO2 re absorption. All of these things ARE happening.

The problem is, Gore in "An Inconvenient Truth" claims we can get our CO2 emissions to zero. This is humanly impossible. Even if we stopped burning anything- including plant life, just by living we exhale CO2. To reduce emissions by 80% with an exponentially expanding population would require some sort of de-evolution. It would require severe reductions in quality of life, reduced productivity, less consumption of everything, food included. Next- to stop Global Warming, and reverse the progression would require a type of pollution, or human tampering with the atmosphere. We would need to aggressively remove CO2 from the atmosphere and either convert it to something else, bury it in the ground, or sink it in the ocean. All of these items could by themselves lead to additional unforeseen environmental consequences with time. We have added hundreds of thousands of years worth of CO2 consumption by plants back to the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels over the past century. This is not going to go away over night, even if we stopped using fossil fuel.

Why Gore and others like him feel the need to spin and misrepresent data to support their cause is frustrating. Taking care of this planet is something that we should all be dedicated to. When someone feels the need to scare people and mislead them, it creates a lack of trust. It results in many people who will question all that is being said. It is counter productive.

Why is it done?

Are environmentalists and Gore convincing themselves of the slanted studies that they create?

Is there an ulterior motive? Economics? Politics?

Job preservation? The thought being that more money will be funneled into studies of weather patterns if it is seen as something that could cause problems? John Coleman, founder of the weather channel believes the whole thing to be a scam, created to fund academia and spun out of control by politicians.

Others see global warming as a progressive movement to create a more egalitarian world economy. (Wikipedia has conspiracy theory page) Stunt industrialized nations in the interest of growing 3rd world countries. Make a government run society more feasible by lowering the expectations of lifestyle.

A more feasible cause is that popular figures as well as academics just drive the hysteria due to petty personal interests.
As it turns out Al Gore has a vested financial interest in the ideas he promotes:
Gore’s Dual Role: Advocate and Investor
From Article: The deal appeared to pay off in a big way last week, when the Energy Department announced $3.4 billion in smart grid grants. Of the total, more than $560 million went to utilities with which Silver Spring has contracts. Kleiner Perkins and its partners, including Mr. Gore, could recoup their investment many times over in coming years.
Al Gore could become world's first carbon billionaire

No conflict of interest in his agenda.

The Exchange of Easter Gifts

2010-03-28T21:50:00.006-04:00

Kate this year suggested that we exchange Easter gifts. I scored big with a nifty set of Beatles Pint glasses. I've been on a roll braking my glasses lately so this was needed. To top that off, Kate gave me a very sweet container of eggs. Awesome. (I ate one already!)

For Kate I put together a basket made with a splatter guard for cooking which Kate said she needed. The guard formed the base and I used wrapping paper to form the basket. In the basket, some Bath & Body soaps and lotion, as well as some sweets.

Happy Spring!

More of What We're In For

2010-03-26T15:15:00.002-04:00

AT&T sees $1 billion healthcare-related charge
Not a health care company, AT&T shows the huge impact the health care bill will have on our economy. As this is only the beginning, with increasing tax rates and increased mandates on industry it is only set to get worse as the years pass.

Employers plan to shift more health-care costs to workers, survey reports
This will of course be used as evidence as to why we need a "public plan". Democrats (not all, but many) anticipated this. As Obama has said on multiple occasions- this bill is only the first step.

Deere says health care bill will cost it $150 million

Caterpillar: Health care bill would cost it $100M

Medical Companies: Taxes In Healthcare Bill Will Kill Jobs, Businesses

What?! Castro Likes it? Well that Changes Everything!

2010-03-25T20:31:00.003-04:00

Cuban leader applauds US health-care reform bill
Article starts by stating the obvious: It perhaps was not the endorsement President Barack Obama and the Democrats in Congress were looking for.
-Well, that is probably only half true since they essentially believe in the same ideologies. Research it. They do. They would say I'm being hateful by saying that, but they believe in the same things, bottom line. Some of them even take to wearing Che Guevara (Assassin/ mass murderer during the Cuban revolution) t-shirts. The famous Obama poster is in fact modeled on Che Guevara propaganda. But no, they don't believe in socialism (or Communism).

Why can't Democrats own up to their ideology? I proudly admit that I am a Capitalist Civil -Libertarian. For example, I believe that even the most radical left wingers who can be hateful and prejudiced people have a right to free speech. Do they agree with this?

Huffington Argues Glenn Beck Should Be Excluded from Constitutionally Protected Freedom of Speech

The unfairness of a Fairness Doctrine Ah the good old fairness doctrine and the battle to shut down talk radio. Obama's against it (sure he is....), but wait, there are other options. FCC's Diversity Czar - Killing talk radio?

There are entire websites and organizations campaigning to get advertisers not to run on Beck because they claim that Glenn Beck is too radical- racist even, because he dares to talk about reparations, and the class warfare that Obama embarks on. They claim that he hates the poor- but ironically Beck's target audience is lower middle class rural Americans NOT THE EVIL RICH which Democrats insist are at the heart and soul of the GOP.

And then there is the media's campaign to paint the Teaparty to be racists, bigots, and generally violent ignorant people. It started with the claims of the n-word and a derogatory word shouted at Barney Frank. Problem is there were cameras running at the scene when the n-word was supposedly shouted- yet it wasn't caught, and Frank was swearing at the crowd before someone used the derogatory term. This does not excuse the inappropriate behavior by some protesters, but it also should not reflect on all of them, as the Democrats and the media want it to.

Right-wing death threats rise: Republicans should condemn Rush Limbaugh
The press is claiming that Limbaugh is somehow telling people to resort to violence and bigotry. Now, I fully admit I can't stand Limbaugh, but if he was verbatim "inciting violence" you better believe you'd have a lot more evidence than all of the Al Frankens of the world claiming that he is. Not to mention in a completely different way, only one side is getting covered. Eric Cantor, Minority Whip, a Republican is also getting threats, despite voting against Health care, as I suspect other GOP members are as well.

Here's an intelligent blog (sarcasm) with a very clever name "clusterf*ck" nation
The Party of Cruelty- The only reason I know this exists, is that a admittedly intelligent acquaintance of mine posted this on Facebook, somehow believing this sort of thing actually serves his left of center cause. Imagine if a "conservative" wrote this. This is so tasteless I think Ann Coulter (who has a career built on this sort of thing, albeit from the opposite side of the spectrum) would be jealous of his "Audacity". It is mean spirited, prejudiced, garbage.

If the likes of Beck, O'Reilley, Hannity, etc are all insane and stupid as the Olbermanns and Maddows out there claim, what are they so afraid of? They should crush these dummies in the ratings, these evil, greedy, profit loving old white men who would like nothing more than to oppress the masses. The thing is, somehow, these ignorant icons seem to make more sense to the blue collar people than the brilliant intellectuals that are available on MSNBC, CNN, and CBS.
Some gems from Olbermann

On Olbermann: In railing against yesterday’s hotly debated Supreme Court decision, he effectively said it was worse than slavery, and compared Floyd Abrams, who is Jewish, to a Nazi.
The link above is actually even from a liberal source- and obviously while they are critical of Beck within the article, they've obviously never watched him. The difference between Beck and Olbermann besides the obvious ideology is such: Beck does not call people Nazis, he said that progressive policies will lead to abuse of power- the likes of which occurred in the Nazi regime. Beck himself says that radical right wing progressive behavior could lead to a Nazi-like regime, citing the Patriot Act as a stepping stone. Yes, Beck calls people communists- people who openly admit that they ARE COMMUNISTS! Is that really comparable to Olbermann? Because if it is, someone please explain it to me because I'm obviously just not bright enough. Sure both are partisan and both have strong personalities. Olbermann is a name caller, he bases much of his show on emotion based opinions, as opposed to Beck. Beck who without a doubt gets emotional, (he gets criticized for it) uses history, literature, video and sound clips of his opposition-which he makes a point not to splice (more than you can say for Olbermann- when he rarely uses clips), bills and documents themselves. Olbermann does not generally do this, he generalizes, he espouses his beliefs that the right over reacts, is bigoted, and is evil. Olbermann believes that the government should take care of everyone, and Beck believes in personal freedom and free market principals.

Another example:
Olbermann Calls for Prosecution of Bush, Invokes Nazis and Slavery

Ah... People are going to see the side they want to. It all seems pointless at times. I'm afraid the balance is tipping in this country to people who feel entitled, people who want to be taken care of. People should be empowered, proud, proactive, responsible, and aggressive at providing for themselves. That is the spirit that makes greatness, not the "what can they do for me" attitude. Wealth redistribution creates class warfare and hatred. Not to mention it destroys the investor portion of an economy. Without investors you have no income. Without income, you have no tax revenue. With out tax revenue-Big government is going to have to REALLY start getting ugly. Why people don't understand this completely baffles me.

Hmmmm....

2010-03-24T00:38:00.002-04:00

There are probably many thoughtful things I could right about, but really, I just can't bring myself to do it. My week has been tolerable, although my aspirations to go to the gym have not panned out because I've stayed out too late and haven't had the time. Although the health care bill should give me more incentive to go to the gym. The sooner the free market ends, the less options I'll have available to me some day when I need it. I need to preserve the health I have, because no one is going to help me do it but myself.

I started watching this e2 series on Netflix which is about sustainable architecture. The first show was on NYC. I touched upon the idea of compact living being more sustainable- but took it a step further with some of the green buildings that collect rainwater and recycle it, and use geothermal heating etc. The only downside was periodic narration by Brad Pitt which was typically some nauseating attempt at wisdom. The most laughable was "If Walt Whitman were alive today would he say...." and it was some stab at a poetic statement about the "green" nature of modern skyscrapers. The second episode was split between a poverty stricken area in Mexico, and a poor neighborhood in Austin Texas. University students were studying better ways to use the land and use materials that compliment the environment that they are in.

Earlier in the week I watched a documentary on the hippie communes of the sixties, one in particular which I believe was called Black Bear Ranch... or something along those lines. Always interesting to learn more about some very atypical ways of thinking.

And yes Kate, I still have not watched "An Inconvenient Truth". I have the bad habit of not watching some of my DVDs that arrive in the mail. While I think Gore is a con artist, I've always wanted to watch this film, as I like to familiarize myself intimately with the things I am critical of. But as of yet, I just haven't had the stomach for it. Not a good week to immerse my self in the thoughts of those opposed to Capitalism and civil liberties. I'm already being immersed, and not by choice. Perhaps Thursday night I'll watch it, right after I get back from the gym.

What We Are In For

2010-03-17T22:35:00.002-04:00

As Obamacare is looking like a sure thing now, regardless of whether congress votes for it, here is a taste of what we are in for.

Walgreens: no new Medicaid patients as of April 16
Walgreens in Washington state set to stop accepting new Medicaid customers because they are not making money off of filling the prescriptions.

Democrat Tim Cahill- Massachusetts State Treasurer says the federal adoption of a Masscare (Romneycare) style health care plan will bankrupt the nation in four years. This is the guy who is watching over the Massachusetts money situation!
Tim Cahill slams Barack Obama, Dems on health care
Among other things Cahill claims that the actually cost of the Massachusetts plan is being buffered by federal dollars to intentionally hide how unsustainable it is.

ER Related Cost Inflation From the Uninsured: Bogus Hype

2010-03-14T15:43:00.003-04:00

Cracking down on ER use won't save us as much money as you think

From article:
"While the past decade has seen dramatic increases in the use of emergency care and ER crowding, ER care is but a tiny portion of the U.S. health care pie: less than 3 percent."
For a back up resource to this claim see the following link: Cost of Emergency Care
From the "American College of Emergency Physicians" website.

This PubMed article (only the abstract is available at link) indicates that the actual data does not support common assumptions of who goes to the Emergency Room. In fact most people who go to the emergency room ARE insured- therefore only a fraction of the 3% of costs of ALL HEALTH CARE expenditures are uninsured Medicaid beneficiaries through this oft incorrectly cited source of a drain on resources.
Uninsured adults presenting to US emergency departments: assumptions vs data.

This piece talks about how it is actually INSURED patients that are driving an increase in ER use rather than the uninsured- thereby predicting that the proposed health care reform will actually make this problem WORSE, not better.
Insured patients drive up ER visits

Interestingly the article cites malpractice insurance as discouraging prospective doctors from entering the field, and new trends to limit high tech equipment such as MRIs and CAT scans as being points making it difficult for people to get appointments. The current Senate bill does not include malpractice reform, as the Democrats are heavily lobbied by lawyers, and also will limit tests, and ultimately if it is like its European counterparts- will scale back the equipment to patient ratio to reduce costs. All of which will make the problem worse.

Already after a few years in Massachusetts, a similar health care reform movement has resulted in increased costs & premiums, and busier Emergency Rooms.
ER visits, costs in Mass. climb

Brace yourselves America. There is a reason that when there is bad news for the Democrats and their health plan, the stock market goes up, and when there is progress (no pun intended) the market goes down.
Health Care Stocks Drag Market Down

If it is bad for Massachusetts without dozens of states to dull the blow of policies that hurt business and innovation, just imagine what it will be like after several years when we are all forced onto the anti-business, anti-innovation, anti-individual, and anti-capitalist policies.

Making the case of Government Effectiveness

2010-03-13T13:49:00.003-05:00

Bob Shallit: IRS visits Sacramento carwash in pursuit of 4 cents

From article:

Now he's trying to figure out how penalties and interest could climb so high on such a small debt. He says he's never been told he owes any taxes or that he's ever incurred any late-payment penalties in the four years he's owned Harv's.
In fact, he provided us with an Oct. 22, 2009, letter from the IRS that states Harv's "has filed all required returns and addressed any balances due."

Awesome right? I mean, if the government could only take over the health industry and the student loan industry, just imagine how they could make this power work for all of us Citizens? I mean its about time someone cracks down on those crooked car wash owners. I don't know how many times I lost 50 cents in one of those coin operated vacuums!

FDR's Second Bill of Rights - Due for a 2nd attempt

2010-03-11T23:52:00.002-05:00

Progressive President Franklin Delano Roosevelt wanted to reform the United States into a quasi-socialist Republic, and to a great extent did setting us up for our ever expanding deficits and the slow erosion of the innovative drive that made the U.S. a super power. The New Deal as we know created massive government expansion that debatably prolonged the Great Depression until WWII pulled us out, 16 years after the stock market crash in 1929. A failed vision on his agenda was the "2nd Bill of Rights" which has been slowly constructed piece meal over the past 60 years. Currently under the progressive Obama Administration, the prospects to completing this vision are perhaps the best that they ever have been.

One could say, the Farm Bill, Medicare, Medicaid, and other safety nets created over the years have gone a long way towards establishing this.

As shown on the Wikipedia page, these are amongst the "rights" discussed.
-The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;
-The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
-The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
-The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
-The right of every family to a decent home;
-The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
-The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
-The right to a good education

These so called "rights" are very similar to those supported in the Stalinist Constitution of the Soviet Union (1936). These policies sound wonderful on paper but they ignore common sense, and the natural desires and competitiveness of humankind.

The concept of "rights" as a progressive sees them is that people should be guaranteed things. Nothing in this world is certain except death. That is the cold harsh truth.

Several years back when Newt Gingrich's congress tried to pass a "Balanced Budget Amendment" it was shot down as unconstitutional, irresponsible and unrealistic. And while it was a nice dream, it was indeed all of these things. If there are times of great national strife it may be necessary and inevitable that a deficit may be incurred. Likewise in times of great strife- if health care, jobs, food, homes, and recreation are provided- something will have to give, something will need to be cut. Cut one item? Well that will be tough with a established bureaucracy- even recreation may be held onto because in our system politicians are too drunk with power to cut something that might cost them votes. Instead imagine maintaining a so called "right" to all of these things- but REALLY poor quality.

Fear is a necessary evil. Fear is what makes us strive for something better. Fear is what makes us build better machines, make better drugs, and increase conveniences in our lives. Fear of wasting time, fear of falling behind, fear of not living up to ones potential, fear of poverty, and fear of death. In a system that claims to guarantee everything, one must sacrifice civil liberties to allow the government to act in their interest. People may get security at first, but if anything ever goes wrong, they may end up becoming largely powerless to do things for themselves. If the government promises everything, and takes our ability away to provide for ourselves- then we not only will have no desire to improve, we won't be able to. And of course to reiterate, what the government gives, the government can take away.

Fear is healthy. Competition is good. Eden can not be created by man. We can not create a world without greed, without lust, without desire, without pain, and without suffering. We must not be seduced by Utopian pipe dreams. We must realize that to succeed YOU MUST HAVE THE RIGHT to fail. And yes failure should be a right. We need failure as individuals- rather than forced mass failure, which is where this progressive path will take us.

I apologize for rambling...

Nationalization of Student Loan Industry to be Combined With Healthcare Reconciliation

2010-03-08T23:04:00.003-05:00

Dem plan to twin healthcare and student lending complicates vote

Stimulus: Because Even Monkeys Need to Get High

2010-03-08T22:42:00.001-05:00

Stimulus funds pay for monkey research in N.C.

From Article:
"The study is examining the effects of cocaine on a particular neurotransmitter among monkeys who have had a long-term addiction to cocaine."

More From Article:
"How does this study help revive the economy?" Balfour asked.

Well, again, jobs, said Nancy Avis, a professor in the Department of Social Sciences and Health policy at the medical school. The funding, more than $147,000 over two years, will contribute to the salaries of six people.

Prohibition making a comeback in PA?

2010-03-08T21:47:00.002-05:00

Troopers raid popular bars for unlicensed beers

This is what tax payer money is being used for in Pennsylvania? Isn't it bad enough that the police waste time and resources on pot smokers while dangerous criminals roam free or are pushed out of prisons so the cops can meet quotas? Come on! How messed up can the system of justice possibly get? The total lack of common sense completely baffles me, and yes, I am aware it is corruption and labor unions and politicians preying on the weak and fearful minds that perpetuates this dysfunctional system. A system that costs us dearly as a Nation, and ultimately propagates more crime.

A Constitution For The People

2010-03-05T00:55:00.003-05:00

I've pasted an excerpt of a constitution below which I've removed references to the nation for which it was written. The meaning is intact. If curiosity gets the best of you and you would like to learn more about the forward thinking nation that must of written this, and to read the rest of the document that these excerpts are from I encourage you to click the link below. (Information made availble from Bucknell University website as translated/ prepared by Robert Beard)

ARTICLE 118. Citizens have "the right" to work, that is, are guaranteed the right to employment and payment for their work in accordance With its quantity and quality.
The right to work is ensured by the organization of the national economy, the steady growth of the productive forces of society, the elimination of the possibility of economic crises, and the abolition of unemployment.
ARTICLE 119. Citizens have "the right" to rest and leisure. The right to rest and leisure is ensured by the reduction of the working day to seven hours for the overwhelming majority of the workers, the institution of annual vacations with full pay for workers and employees and the provision of a wide network of sanatoria, rest homes and clubs for the accommodation of the working people.
ARTICLE 120. Citizens have "the right" to maintenance in old age and also in case of sickness or loss of capacity to work. This right is ensured by the extensive development of social insurance of workers and employees at state expense, free medical service for the working people and the provision of a wide network of health resorts for the use of the working people.
ARTICLE 121. Citizens have "the right" to education. This right is ensured by universal, compulsory elementary education; by education, including higher education, being free of charge; by the system of state stipends for the overwhelming majority of students in the universities and colleges; by instruction in schools being conducted in the native language, and by the organization in the factories, state farms, machine and tractor stations and collective farms of free vocational, technical and agronomic training for the working people.
ARTICLE 122. Women are accorded equal rights with men in all spheres of economic, state, cultural, social and political life. The possibility of exercising these rights is ensured to women by granting them an equal right with men to work, payment for work, rest and leisure, social insurance and education, and by state protection of the interests of mother and child, prematernity and maternity leave with full pay, and the provision of a wide network of maternity homes, nurseries and kindergartens.
ARTICLE 123. Equality of rights of citizens, irrespective of their nationality or race, in all spheres of economic, state, cultural, social and political life, is an indefeasible law. Any direct or indirect restriction of the rights of, or, conversely, any establishment of direct or indirect privileges for, citizens on account of their race or nationality, as well as any advocacy of racial or national exclusiveness or hatred and contempt, is punishable by law.
ARTICLE 124. In order to ensure to citizens freedom of conscience, the church is separated from the state, and the school from the church. Freedom of religious worship and freedom of antireligious propaganda is recognized for all citizens.
ARTICLE 125. In conformity with the interests of the working people, and in order to strengthen the socialist system, the citizens are guaranteed by law:
a. freedom of speech;
b. freedom of the press;
c. freedom of assembly, including the holding of mass meetings;
d. freedom of street processions and demonstrations.
These civil rights are ensured by placing at the disposal of the working people and their organizations printing presses, stocks of paper, public buildings, the streets, communications facilities and other material requisites for the exercise of these rights.

Think twice about criticism by some of today's prominent ideas on social progress before you consider the dissenting voice a fringe conspiracy theory.

Far Out...

2010-03-02T23:57:00.002-05:00

Chile Earthquake May Have Shortened Days on Earth
The quake is horrible of course, but I suppose we can be thankful that Chile was much better equipped to deal with such a disaster then Haiti was.

Chile is one of those countries I'm intrigued with and wouldn't mind visiting some day.

If I Tweeted....

2010-02-25T23:20:00.001-05:00

I'd totally follow Sockington.. (Fixed this- sort of, I apologize for the bad embed, the original Boston.com piece is unavailable)

How Did Reid Ever Get Elected?

2010-02-22T23:23:00.001-05:00

I mean saying ridiculous things about 49% of the electorate usually doesn't help. Just an observation.

Subway observations and Melancholy

2010-02-20T13:24:00.003-05:00

Here I am, just passing through the heart of a New England winter. Crusty snow melts at erratic intervals, the landscape is brown and gray, and people walk with their heads tilted slightly to the ground with furrowed brows and the hint of a frown upon their faces. We shuffle through our routines and we all have different means of coping, some healthier than others.

I occasionally put down my books when I'm on the subway. I'll shut off my mp3 player and just take in what is around me. I admit, typically this happens when I'm on a crowded train and there are no seats. Usually such distractions from the sadness that exists out there are welcome.

The other evening I saw an older gentleman sitting in a seat by the train door. Honestly I didn't really notice him all that much at first. He sparked my awareness when he asked a wealthy looking middle aged woman if she would like his seat. What was odd about this, was not the act of kindness or chivalry, but how unwarranted it was. There were two empty seats directly behind the woman who was clearly choosing to stand. I suddenly paid close attention to this gray haired man, seemingly oblivious to the situation. The action made me think of something I may have done in high school.

I was generally very jaded by the time I was in high school. I didn't fit in, and I knew my place. I could try to conform, and get along with the masses, or I could be myself and avoid the costs that usually follow a geek that tries to be liked. I chose the latter accepting that many of my peers had prejudged me without really knowing me. They just knew I was smaller than everyone else, was not athletic, didn't follow pop or sports culture in the same manner as the masses, and I probably seemed unhappy, which on some superficial level I was.

As a naive adolescent I occasionally had moments where my normal reservations would be thrown to the wind. I might try talking to someone who I usually wouldn't. It would be some girl I thought was cute, or some jock who I though that perhaps in the moment would relate to me and treat me as though I was an equal, and not something to ridicule to score points in a crowd. These were awkward moments. They were poorly thought out, foolishly optimistic, irrational, and unrealistic. Generally by college I had many of my growing pains out of my system, but I do recall one moment at my freshman dorm where its inhabitants were outside for one of our routine prank-caused fire alarms. A soccer ball was going around the group, some one lost control of it and it came my way up in the air. Instead of catching it and tossing it back-which would have been the logical thing to do, some idiotic part of me thought I could head it back, like I may have tried to do the one year I played JV soccer in high school. This extensive soccer record clearly made me skilled right? Ha! Of course not. I did head the ball, but it veered off at an angle sending it even further out of the grasp of the group that was using it. I don't know what childish part of me made me do it, but obviously I thought I could be successful, that I would impress people who I shouldn't have cared to impress?

That is what I saw in this older man. Chivalry was pointless, he needed the seat more than the able woman who was standing, and likely only riding the train for a stop or two. And truthfully, I don't know if he realized the foolishness and embarrassing nature of his question to the woman. All for the better perhaps.

He was aiming to please, the recipient of the pleasure with out a doubt would be him. The pleasure of being a good guy, of being better than the other people still sitting down, to be a good old fashioned, respectful man. I don't think he noticed that she could have sat down in another seat. He looked too sad, and too lonely to truly be aware of his surroundings. He appeared down on his luck. He was dressed OK, but he was a little disheveled. His black slacks had some dust at the bottom of the legs and his black walking shoes were poorly tied, almost like some of the teenage boys do now to broadcast to the world "I don't care".

The woman for her part was pleasant-she didn't look irritated or repulsed, but actually gave him a pleasant smile and said "No thank you". Following this he looked down at the floor in front of him.

I began wondering what his story was. He wore a wedding band, but some how I could not imagine him in his current state as being married. It didn't seem that there was someone out there waiting for him in a warm home, thinking of him, wondering how his day went. I pondered briefly if I was being an incredibly poor judge of character, but dismissed the thought. In my mind I thought of different scenarios. A wife that had long ago passed away, or perhaps someone had left him for a different path in life however, he was still holding this person close in his broken heart.

On a Green line train to Brookline yesterday I noticed a woman's eyes glistening. Her eyelids were pink, her face anguished, and her eyes wide and quivering, like a fearful character in an anime movie. Next to her another woman held her hand, her partner, her lover. It seemed to me that her words bore a gentle warning or admonishment, and that the crying woman she directed it at was becoming overwhelmed with growing fears of abandonment. I had to look away, obviously because it isn't proper to stare at such personal scenes, but also because I could feel the woman's pain and felt my own eyes well up a bit. I noticed as they exited the train, the composed woman gently guiding her worried lover down the stairs with her hand placed on her lower back.

Even with our human constructs, our rules, and structure, there is a level of chaos that can not be contained. The wreckage of emotional roller coaster rides, and the perilously delicate paths our lives shuttle forth upon seem that much more apparent this time of year. Perhaps it is the cold in the air, the dreary landscapes, or the long slug of unbroken scheduled routines that are all so prevalent. These, the defining characteristics of a northern winter, serve to further accentuate the delicate balance, the potential for loss, and ultimately our mortality.

I've always found it odd that our ancestors, most of whom lived in the northern hemisphere, decided that it would be midwinter when they wanted the "New Year" to begin. Perhaps it was more of a choice created around the desire of interrupting the monotony of winter. To me, the equinoxes either in spring or fall would be much more appropriate. But perhaps my preferences are merely a reflection of this environment in which I live.