4524. thoughtful - 5/1/2007 8:27:38 AM
Here's the pic from my calendar for May....it's of the crab apple tree in front of our house. I LOVE spring!
4525. wonkers2 - 5/1/2007 2:45:14 PM
Wow!
4526. wonkers2 - 5/1/2007 8:36:02 PM
Here's some pics of my wife's clivia taken with a new Canon 60mm Macro lens I recently treated myself to. Clivia
4527. wonkers2 - 5/1/2007 8:39:22 PM
Here's a nice place to eat next time you're in the San Francisco Bay area Chez Panisse
4528. thoughtful - 5/2/2007 7:39:09 AM
Nice pics of the clivia.
I appreciate your restaurant recommendations...the one you recommended in DC was excellent.
4529. wonkers2 - 5/2/2007 4:50:04 PM
Thanks, I'd forgotten about that. Chez Panisse is even better than Kincaid's or at least as good. Very different kind of place. I think Chez Panisse was one of the first ones to serve local produce in season and a developer of "California Cuisine." Whatever that is. Anyway it's a great place but pricey.
4530. thoughtful - 5/6/2007 3:12:00 PM
OK, back from vacation and wanted to post a few shots.
If you find yourselves in need of beautiful gardens in a lovely area of the country and it just happens to be May, the Brandywine Valley area is the place to be.
I'll start with Longwood gardens, developed by one of the DuPont's. Place is full of water features and an eyeball fountain capable of pumping 8,000 gallons of water per minute to feed the fountains on the property.
They put on a brief show several times a day and a few shows on special nights with colored lighting.
Other water features include a stream, large waterfalls, and this lovely Italian water garden.
Near the Italian water garden is a pond with a wonderful gazebo.
4531. thoughtful - 5/6/2007 3:19:04 PM
But of course, the reason to come is the flowers. Thousands and thousands of flowers.
These creeping flox emitted a most wonderful fragrance and just carpeted an area under trees as opposed to the formal beds above.
4532. thoughtful - 5/6/2007 3:23:06 PM
There are also literally acres under glass and they're in the process of making the conservatory even larger. Housed beneath I found the most outstanding salpiglosis I've ever seen and found them to be a strong challenge to my first love...
...the orchids.
4533. thoughtful - 5/6/2007 3:33:31 PM
We lucked out with the weather as well....sunny and in the upper 60s to low 70s. It was just perfect.
Then yesterday we hit the gardens at Winterthur, another DuPont mansion on 1,000 acres, a good chunk of which is dedicated to gardens with wonderful vistas. The mansion is also a huge museum full of dupont collections and focused on decorative arts. The grounds are just extraordinary.
The azaleas were blooming but not quite at 100%, but I certainly was not complaining. The azalea woods were created when the woods lost their chestnut trees due to blight so dupont decided to underplant with azaleas and wild flowers. It took him 30 years to complete the garden which now covers 8 acres and creates a most incredible display.
His thing was much less focus on formal gardens and much more focus on using plantings to create beautiful landscapes that just seemed to be rather than a result of human effort. I spent quite a bit of time on a bench on a hill just absorbing this view.
4534. thoughtful - 5/6/2007 3:39:00 PM
The real beauty of the place is the incredible treats one finds around the property. If you're into trees, they have one of the largest collections of conifers in the country which dupont developed with the help of the guy who did the arnold arboretum in boston.
The surprise of finding exquisite pansies in the corner of a stair.
Coming across a most incredibly colored azalea
Or finding that, though it was too early for the majority of peonies, a few special ones were open early.
What a wonderful way to unwind and enjoy.
4535. wonkers2 - 5/10/2007 6:22:05 PM
4536. jexster - 5/10/2007 7:14:05 PM
I was disappointed on my last visit to Chez Panisse....A very good and very garlicky halibut to start was followed by an undistinguished gnocchi (too subtle to follow the garlic) and an equally undistinguished tenderloin of buffalo
And the portions - never very large anyway - were microscopic even by their standards.
Glad someone else paid. For MY money, if you can't get to French Laundry ....Gary Danko, Aqua, or La Folie
At CP you get what they serve
Tonight for instance...
Thursday, May 10 $65
Baked Bellwether Farm ricotta with shaved asparagus
Local petrale sole with fried spring onions
Grilled Wolfe Ranch quail with stone-ground polenta and morel mushroom ragù
Meyer lemon ice cream profiteroles
4537. jexster - 5/10/2007 7:20:02 PM
4538. wonkers2 - 5/10/2007 7:30:45 PM
I had duck which was quite good. The portions are small which is okay with me because I'd like to lose a few pounds. You could also stand to lose a few as I recall.
4539. jexster - 5/10/2007 7:33:57 PM
hardee har har
4540. jexster - 5/10/2007 7:35:19 PM
The portions ..small's OK but I swear..3-4 bites per course for 85 bucks is a rip-off anyway you slice it
If I want diet, I'll do NutriSystem
4541. jexster - 5/10/2007 7:36:04 PM
Go to La Folie and you'll HAVE to do Nutrisystem
4542. jexster - 5/10/2007 7:42:38 PM
PoipuAl invites all Motiers to be his guest at the Grand Hyatt Luau
Cornell graduates not allowed
4543. thoughtful - 5/11/2007 7:06:06 AM
Nice tulips, wonks...i especially like the black ones. I always think of my dad when I see them...i remember how excited he was the first time he grew them.
Dad was quite the gardener and especially loved his flowers. For his funeral I tried to remember all the kinds he grew and it was over 80, and later I remembered i missed some. Though he left for work so early in the am, he'd always leave the house 15 minutes ahead of time to spend it in the garden and as soon as he came home, he was back in the garden again. Strangers would stop by just to look at his flowers...nothing tickled him more.
4544. wonkers2 - 5/11/2007 10:34:36 AM
Tnx. My wife is the gardener in our family. I'm the photographer.
4545. wonkers2 - 5/11/2007 10:35:57 AM
I just added a few more close-up tulip shots which I took with my new Canon 60mm macro lens. The results are better.
4546. thoughtful - 5/11/2007 11:05:50 AM
very nice...
4547. prolph - 5/11/2007 9:16:17 PM
thanks all for the pictures, i revoke rats, patsy
4548. jexster - 5/13/2007 5:17:21 PM
Wonk, Max and visitors...
Check Please! Bay Area, a KQED production, is now on-line. Each week three ordinary folks go to each other's favorite restaurant and piss all over it - sometimes not
4549. jexster - 5/17/2007 9:00:03 PM
Ataynshun Texicans!
AH Hayr tayul thar's a fayhn reastohrauwunt in Sugar Lanyund Tejas
Amici's, right on SW FWY at Town Sqwayur. The owner's son plays little league with my nephew and used to be at the Tejas-reknowned Tony's
4550. jexster - 5/17/2007 9:12:36 PM
That'd be US59 at Tejas 6 just pass the Farm to Markeet 1082 a piece..for you Yankee touriss
4551. jexster - 5/27/2007 8:29:43 AM
70th Birthday today
4552. wonkers2 - 5/27/2007 1:47:49 PM
Nice picture of a beautiful bridge, in contrast to the Bay Bridge which has a solid steel railing that keeps riders in cars from seeing the Bay.
4553. jexster - 5/27/2007 1:56:24 PM
toys wonk
4554. jexster - 5/29/2007 8:24:29 AM
4555. anomie - 6/12/2007 8:41:02 AM
Note to Thoughtful: Not long after you mentioned Mt Rushmore I saw an episode of Penn and Teller's "Bullshit" series on the subject. I hadn't been aware of the controversies surrounding the place. Seems the artist was a Nazi of sorts and the only way he agreed to the project was if it included the expansionist presidents, which it does. This does not sit well with native Americans, and who can blame them?
My objection is that the mountain is irreversably scarred, but I'll still go see it one of these days.
4556. thoughtful - 6/12/2007 9:42:39 AM
Anomie, well the presidents on the mt are a good selection in my view...a darn sight better than any of our more recent guys! (Or is it just that they look better when history rewrites the past?)
4557. thoughtful - 6/12/2007 9:47:13 AM
I realized i never posted my calendar pic for june. Lake Eagles mere...probably should've made it a different month as we were there in sep and the leaves were just starting to turn, but it makes a nice shot, nonetheless. One of the few places I think I'd like to go back to. It's literally in the middle of nowhere (at least it must be if you're over an hour away from the nearest walmart!)
4558. Ms. No - 6/12/2007 11:26:23 AM
Gorgeous pics, Wonks & Thoughtful!
So, about Black Tulips, are they harder to grow than other varieties? Is the intensity of the color dependent on soil acidity in the way that hydgrangea blossoms are?
4559. thoughtful - 6/12/2007 2:18:54 PM
no and no. Just get the right bulbs.
Dad used to grow them. They're not really black, y'know but a very deep purple.
4560. anomie - 6/12/2007 2:21:03 PM
Thoughtful, they were good presidents if expanding the west for white Europeans while displacing the native population is a priority. Can't blame the natives for seeing things in a different light.
Of course these presidents had other accomplishments, but I think a more Easterly monument would have been more appropriate to their overall contributions.
4561. anomie - 6/12/2007 2:22:14 PM
Wonks, I don't see a link at 4552. Am I missing something? I always like to see your pics.
4562. anomie - 6/12/2007 7:22:11 PM
Another lovely landscape, Thoughtful.
4563. Ms. No - 6/12/2007 8:24:57 PM
Thanks, Thoughtful --- and yes, I did notice that they're deep purple (as opposed to Deep Purple) but they're quite amazing looking.
4564. thoughtful - 6/13/2007 6:20:52 AM
Quite. Called queen of the night.
There are also extraordinarily black irises.
4565. thoughtful - 6/13/2007 6:23:08 AM
Speaking of blooms, mother gave me a pretty phaelenopsis that's white with a tinge of yellow and is already blooming and throwing a new shoot for new blossoms. At the same time denny my dendrobium is also starting a new shoot. I'm just pleased as punch. But I have one phale that's done absolutely nothing. I've moved him to my back room where there is little light and will give him a few weeks there and then move him to the bright window to see if that doesn't encourage some kind of action.
4566. alistairConnor - 6/19/2007 12:45:05 PM
I planted some black tulips a friend gave me, last autumn. No sign of them. It was a funny old winter, some of my bulbs sprouted in December then died. But mostly I think the rats got them.
4567. alistairConnor - 6/19/2007 12:49:21 PM
I've started warming up for the summer mountain bike expedition. I try to do an hour's riding a day, before or after work. Tonight I did my circuit in forty minutes, I'll need to lengthen it. A kilometre of little asphalt road at about a 15% average gradient, then dirt/stone tractor tracks. Surprisingly little liquid mud, considering how much it's been raining the past few weeks.
First crash : thinking intently about politics, while zig-zagging down the steep stony track back to the house. It's actually quite technical if you do it at speed, I need to give it more attention. But mainly I shouldn't have been wearing sandals, they got stuck in the clips. Just some bruising to a leg.
4568. thoughtful - 6/19/2007 1:10:59 PM
ouch...lesson learned the hard way.
4569. wonkers2 - 6/26/2007 4:57:28 AM
4570. anomie - 6/27/2007 2:35:49 PM
Wonks...another bunch of great shots. Thanks.
4571. anomie - 6/27/2007 2:38:00 PM
What an age we live in. E tickets are commonplace for overseas flights, and I just printed boarding passes at home. Now if I could just put my bag in the transporter and zap it to the hotel.
4572. wonkers2 - 6/27/2007 3:07:07 PM
Thanks, anomie!
4573. wonkers2 - 7/4/2007 10:10:31 AM
4574. thoughtful - 7/6/2007 5:47:37 AM
July pic from my calendar.Man o' war at Manalapan.
4575. alistairConnor - 7/6/2007 5:31:55 PM
My elder girl is blogging her summer archaeology camp...
She found this amazing arrow head. 
4576. betty - 7/6/2007 8:25:46 PM
Oh what a beautiful young girl, and a real find!
Weed would be jealous.
4577. thoughtful - 7/8/2007 7:31:10 AM
Very neat!
4578. wonkers2 - 7/23/2007 5:33:26 PM
4579. alistairConnor - 7/31/2007 4:07:48 PM
Back to work tomorrow. Gah.
Two back-to-back one week holidays, very different and both very excellent. A vintage year. Mountain biking in southern France, near the Pyrenees, and messing about in England with the girls.
Pictures and narrative in due course.
4580. anomie - 7/31/2007 4:51:18 PM
I for one look forward to it. I always like your pics. But then I'm partial to anything Europe.
4581. anomie - 7/31/2007 4:54:32 PM
I am back from the Greece/Italy excursion and am ashamed to say the buggers got my wallet on the metro in Rome....or on the bus. I don't even know where or how or who and that's infuriating. Me of all people! I'm so careful and I'm so aware of my body space.
It's those cargo pants pockets. Not so secure afterall. The odd thing is my passport was snug against my wallet and they left that. Thank goodness.
4582. wabbit - 7/31/2007 5:18:00 PM
I used to keep photocopies of all important documents (passports, driver's licenses, immigration docs...) with people I could trust (inlaws, immediate family), just in case I lost something while traveling.
I also used to photograph a card with my mailing address on it on every roll of film I shot while traveling, in case my camera was stolen. Never happened, but I hoped that the thief would be kind enough to send me the photos and negatives. Cameras can be replaced.
How anal am I?
4583. arkymalarky - 7/31/2007 5:50:54 PM
Hey, I wish I was like that. I lost my drivers license on that disastrous train ride somehow. I'm horribly scattered traveling, but thankfully Bob isn't. He'd love your techniques of keeping track of stuff. But he is scattered and does lose things. He gets easily flustered and stressed, while I'm too harebrained.
Started to post this in Good Life, but Bob and I saw the COOLEST thing on the way to town this afternoon. We were on the highway heading to the interstate, when we saw a dead animal in the road and a large carrion bird--no big whoop here--but as we got closer we saw its head was white. So we thought, how strange, a white-headed buzzard. And as we got up to it it was a bald eagle. It flew right at our windshield and up over our car while we were stopped in mid-road just gaping at it. They live in this area, but it was the first time I'd ever seen one, and the first time Bob had up close.
4584. anomie - 7/31/2007 5:51:28 PM
That's pretty clever stuff actually.
I did carry just the minimum of stuff and left storecards and other credit cards at home. I will leave my DL home in future.
Here's what I needed most: The credit card phone number for Rome or Italy. So from now on I will download and pack a list of phone numbers to report lost cards, and locations to get emergency cards. I was lucky to be able to borrow some money from my travel buddy, and I still had my passport, so I could get home okay. I'll pack embassy phone numbers too.
Of course, it will never happen to ME again!
4585. anomie - 7/31/2007 5:52:28 PM
The hotel had a web connection which is how I got the phone numbers I needed. Even so, it took a few calls before I hit the right number.
4586. wonkers2 - 7/31/2007 6:12:08 PM
That's a clever idea, wabbit. I live in dread of losing my camera, not so much having it stolen but forgetting it somewhere. I have my name and address on the camera case. (Getting absent minded in my old age!)
4587. anomie - 7/31/2007 6:23:25 PM
Do I remember how to do this?
Santorini
4588. anomie - 7/31/2007 6:29:10 PM
Bath at Pompei
4589. anomie - 7/31/2007 6:32:19 PM
The obolisk at the steps was shrouded with scaffoldng as was the fountain in Piaza Novona...so we try angled shots. Ha!
4590. anomie - 7/31/2007 6:36:13 PM
Not too many new ways to show Santorini...one of the most photographed places...but the door of opportunity showed itself!
4591. anomie - 7/31/2007 6:42:35 PM
I used a new High Def camcorder, specifically the Canon HV20. It cost 1000 dollars but I can tell you it was well worth it. The video quality is stuuning and far surpasses anything you've seen prior to HD. I don't have editing software for it yet, but I'm sure it won;t be long. This is screen capture. The video is actually better.
4592. anomie - 7/31/2007 6:45:29 PM
Another screen capture:
4593. anomie - 7/31/2007 6:47:04 PM
Saint Peters!
4594. anomie - 7/31/2007 6:48:35 PM
One for the money...
4595. anomie - 7/31/2007 6:53:46 PM
Taking liberties with Photoshop...
Santorini
Athens the "Platka"
4596. anomie - 7/31/2007 7:01:28 PM
I didn't post any people pics. This trip kind of confirmed the end of a long relationship...and that's okay with me because it was what I wanted and was un-traumatic. In fact it's been downright silent, which is nice, but mysterious knowing the woman involved. But she's really good hearted and I wish her the best.
So, who's up for a trip? Ha!
4597. anomie - 7/31/2007 7:09:03 PM
I should have said long but distant. We've seen each other since 2000, but only on transatlantic flights, although I did see her daughter grow from a young girl to a formidable teen who speaks 4 languages without an accent. The opportunities in Denmark prevented me from even thinking about them living here but that's what they wanted at one time. She is a chemical engineer and has always been quite independent, so I flatter myself that I even knew her. But her daughter deserved the best that a European education could provide. And then, there's no accounting for the heart and mine just wasn't there.
4598. anomie - 7/31/2007 7:15:15 PM
...and except for a few beers and an odd sense of contentment, I can't imagine why I'm confiding in strangers online...except some of you don't seem like strangers, and I've seen you forgive, advise, and commiserate over the years with many of us. So I feel better being one of you.
Danke!
4599. anomie - 7/31/2007 7:20:01 PM
Well, just the one pic. Every man likes to know the woman they could have pulled... Hmmmm.
4600. anomie - 7/31/2007 7:42:34 PM
I don't think I posted any pics from Chicago, Nov 06...
4601. anomie - 7/31/2007 7:43:34 PM
4602. anomie - 7/31/2007 7:45:49 PM
The "Bean"
4603. anomie - 7/31/2007 7:50:08 PM
My favorite...from the aquarium.
4604. Jenerator - 7/31/2007 8:29:50 PM
Anomie,
Your pictures are absolutely stunning.
4605. anomie - 7/31/2007 8:33:40 PM
Jen, It's a treat to see you here. I missed you.
and thanks.
You of all people know what I mean when I want to capture something new and NOT like a postcard. Ha!
4606. arkymalarky - 7/31/2007 9:05:41 PM
They're both beautiful women. You've known us all a long time, and we all share. I literally think of it here just as I do irl, and all my rl friends know I value my friendships here.
And I second Jen. The pictures are fantastic. We've talked about a Mote poetry book. We need a Mote photo book.
4607. alistairconnor - 8/1/2007 2:36:54 AM
Yes Anomie, there's no accounting for the heart... thanks for sharing the fabulous photos and the back story. Ah, those little-girl eyes!
Yes, you need some software so you can edit some videos down to U tube standard, and share them with us.
I've been doing bits of video too. My equipment cost me 29 euros. It's actually a cell phone, but I reckon the quality of the video is about equivalent to Super 8. I haven't yet learned to do anything interesting with it which respects its limitations, I think I'll just give it to my daughter so she can get started on her cinematic career.
My story is diametrically opposite : new relationship started in June, and we've spent all of July apart, due to pre-arranged holiday plans. She'll be back on Sunday.
4608. anomie - 8/1/2007 12:04:12 PM
AC, congrats on the new courtship. There's nothing like starting a new relationship.
4609. anomie - 8/1/2007 12:04:56 PM
Thanks, Arky. And thanks for always having a kind word.
4610. jexster - 8/1/2007 6:47:45 PM
A vacances AC
4611. wonkers2 - 8/1/2007 8:56:12 PM
4612. thoughtful - 8/2/2007 11:58:34 AM
Calendar pic for August: Ricketts Glen
One of the most rewarding hikes we ever took...2 rivers come together, each having cut their way through a deep gorge. You hike down the edge of one river, and up the other. It's about 4 miles in total and over that time you pass 22 separate water falls, the highest at 94'. Simply spectacular. It's not often I want to cover the same ground, but this one, I'd be more than happy to do again.
4613. anomie - 8/2/2007 1:35:36 PM
Beautiful shot!
4614. anomie - 8/2/2007 1:38:38 PM
AC, I'm fairly capable with Adobe Premiere Elements for regular video, and I recommend it if you're shopping for something. I'll have to wait a while for an HD editor to become affordable. Seems it's a completely different file format.
4615. jexster - 8/8/2007 7:37:42 PM
Where's Wonkenstein when you really need him?
Red, White and Screwed
Indeed
I noticed as I walked past Davies Symphony Hall that comedian Lewis Black is appearing next Friday
Tickets?
150-950
Too few people with TOO MUCH money in this country
4616. thoughtful - 8/27/2007 10:49:11 AM
Went to Wadsworth Athaneum this weekend. What a terrific gallery. There's something for everyone there...picasso, monet, dali, warhol, trumbull, hunt, o'keeffe, copley, early american furniture, and even an egyptian mummy. Unfortunately their hudson river stuff was touring. Saw a peto...who happens to have been my girlfriend's grandfather. I went though to visit my fave, the lady of shalott.
4617. alistairconnor - 8/28/2007 3:31:13 AM
I was in Madrid the other weekend. I have yet to visit the Prado, but time was too short, it deserves a long weekend of its own. But I did persuade our hosts to take us to the Thyssen-Bornemisza gallery, just barely doable in an afternoon, though we had to skip the temporary Van Gogh "Last landscapes" exhibition.
Oddly, the painting that had the biggest impact on me was Constable's "The lock" 
which is in Baroness Carmen's collection, recently added to the museum.
4618. alistairconnor - 8/28/2007 3:36:00 AM
The Lock, in case it doesn't show up for you.
Actually it doesn't do much for me on screen. Doesn't capture the fabulous highlights etc... Thinking about why it affected me so, it's obviously because of the week I spent recently in England, riding a bike along canals and admiring effects of light on water, etc...
4619. robertjayb - 8/28/2007 1:07:56 PM
Forbidden
You don't have permission to access /C/constable/constable27.JPG on this server.
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Apache/2.0.46 (Red Hat) Server at www.abcgallery.com Port 80
4620. jexster - 8/28/2007 5:11:32 PM
What kinda food do real Hispanics eat?
All we have is tapa rip off restaurants.
Squid shit like that?
4621. jexster - 8/28/2007 5:34:53 PM
Thanks to the Fine Governor of the Great State of Texiss, America is well and truly fcukt
I have never seen so much EuroTrash on the Street of SF, especially French and GERMANS..a smattering of guineas..wish there were more of those
4622. wabbit - 8/28/2007 5:56:13 PM
rjb, try right-clicking on the little no-image icon and select "view image", or whatever seems similar. That worked for me.
The best tapas I've had was in Lahaina, years ago. The ex and I (ok, me) talked our way into a meal at a restaurant that wasn't opening until the following evening. The food was excellent and we went back for opening night. I wish I could remember the name of the place, it was on Front Street, inland side of the street, a block or so down from the banyan tree. Probably long gone.
For anyone in Beantown, Tasca is a very nice restaurant. The Filete de buey is yummy.
4623. alistairconnor - 8/29/2007 2:41:06 AM
I think I'm going to describe the tapas in detail, when I get back to my home computer. I have a photograph of everything we ate (useful forensic evidence, in case anything went wrong!)
Our host was a genuine Madrileno, season ticket at the Bernabeu and everything. He took us to places that, mysteriously, the tourists don't know about (hasn't anyone written a decent guide book?). Most of the tourists are condemned to tapa rip off bars.
4624. alistairConnor - 8/29/2007 5:58:15 AM
So our hosts took us downtown by bus, and we walked around looking at the sights for a couple of hours. No eating or drinking allowed before 2pm, as a matter of principle.
First bar was for an opening beer. 
Standard dose is 150 ml I think.
4625. alistairConnor - 8/29/2007 6:03:05 AM
Second bar was the start of the meal.
The principle is that you have a drink or two, accompanied by a tapa or two, in each bar, and you continue as long as you like.
This is a scaled-down version of what seems to be the local favourite dish : a sort of ratatouille served with fried eggs, and a scattering of fried ham fragments on top. 
In this incarnation, it was served on toast, with a fried quail's egg. Fabulous. Had a second beer with it.
4626. alistairConnor - 8/29/2007 6:05:36 AM
Same bar, because the food was so good. This is chopped black pudding, in a sort of omelette, again on toast. A glass of wine with it, of which I remember only that it was red, and excellent. 
And yes, those are scaled-down fries with it.
4627. alistairConnor - 8/29/2007 6:06:58 AM
Same bar, because the food was so good. This is chopped black pudding, in a sort of omelette, again on toast. A glass of wine with it, of which I remember only that it was red, and excellent. 
And yes, those are scaled-down fries with it.
4628. alistairConnor - 8/29/2007 6:11:48 AM
Change of bar. This one is very famous, the tapas used to come from the famous restaurant across the road, but now they are done on the spot, just opposite where we sat : 
We had another beer, and the inevitable croquetas : sort of deep-fried nothing much : a bechamel sauce flavoured with ham and/or chicken, wrapped in breadcrumbs. These ones were absolutely delicious. 
4629. alistairConnor - 8/29/2007 6:16:38 AM
Final stop : This is a modern bar with designer decor (there was another bar downstairs with real beach sand on the dancefloor, nice for the cleaning staff). 
Designer tapas too. Squid rings, which are a common enough component, with a rather bland sauce. German beer, I guess that's hip, but I prefer the local stuff in this instance. 
The whole deal (four courses and four drinks for four of us) cost us about 20 euros each.
4630. prolph - 8/31/2007 6:34:59 PM
some time ago i spent a month in spain but the only food i found ok in madrid was tapas and and anything in the ritz garden across from the prado.since my main goal was the new museum in bilbo i was amazed and delighted the basque food was tasty and later good things in barsa'ona, i think ac is
more sophistic than i.but then i am a westener.
4631. anomie - 8/31/2007 8:10:27 PM
AC, Thanks for the tour. My first time in Barcelona I ate tapas for dinner without even knowing what they were called, or the protocol so to speak. It was just good bar food as far as I was concerned. I'll have a better experience next time I'm sure.
4632. thoughtful - 9/4/2007 8:45:53 AM
Happy September everyone.
4633. thoughtful - 9/4/2007 8:46:53 AM
oops .... wrong shot. September's is this one:
4634. judithathome - 9/4/2007 9:37:30 AM
AC, delightful food in those pictures.
As to the squid rings, I much prefer the whole baby squid, legs and all. And a thick bleu cheese dressing to dip them in!
4635. jexster - 9/4/2007 10:23:21 AM
THis place is crawling with Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys, Bosche and KIWI's!
I was tabling for Obama outside the Ferry Building and when a couple came up I told them that Barack was going to be in town this Friday for a fundraiser
"Luv ta go mayte. Very interested in this guy but we're from New Zealand"
At least the place was also crawling with hot young Tennessee volunteers just about to git their butts whupped by the Cal Bears
4636. jexster - 9/4/2007 10:24:22 AM
I knew we didn't get good Spanish food out here!
Fucking beaners
4637. jexster - 9/4/2007 10:30:45 AM
We do get tapas...rip off. 8-9 bucks a plate
4638. jexster - 9/4/2007 10:35:26 AM
Bocadillos supposed to be excellent. Won't get out for less than 40E tho
4639. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 9/4/2007 10:53:44 AM
Indeed, happy escapin' to all . . .
4640. judithathome - 9/4/2007 11:12:49 AM
You are the master of the skies!
4641. jexster - 9/4/2007 12:13:25 PM
Very fine work Wiz!
4642. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 9/4/2007 1:47:17 PM
Hey, many thanks!!!
4643. wabbit - 9/4/2007 7:12:43 PM
I want to move into one of those paintings.
4644. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 9/4/2007 7:51:42 PM
Sicily, wabb--countless rustic and often abandoned farmhouses on hilly, volcanic land under an unrelenting sun with centuries of toil and struggle to maintain it.
4645. wabbit - 9/5/2007 7:25:54 AM
Perhaps I would love Sicily, but your paintings are what brings it home for me.
4646. thoughtful - 9/5/2007 7:31:44 AM
Really nice Wiz. Love the light.
4647. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 9/5/2007 7:36:53 AM
Too kind, but thanks!
4648. judithathome - 9/5/2007 3:21:48 PM
Exquisite, as usual!
4649. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 9/5/2007 5:30:51 PM
Thanks again, Judith. I don't mean to hog the thread, but I like sharing what i care about, so I have mixed emotions when I post.
4650. thoughtful - 9/6/2007 7:30:37 AM
Wiz, when you do these water colors, do you use pencil first, say to outline the building? Or is it all just water color paints?
I'm so envious of anyone's ability to put implement to paper and create art. I've tried and failed many times. I remember my poor parents oohing and ahing over the horrible things I brought home from school that were supposed to be art...the wobbly ceramics, the horrendous enameled earrings...
You should be most appreciative of your talent...it is a rare gift. We certainly appreciate it!
4651. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 9/6/2007 9:08:29 AM
You're most generous, tful and thanks for the response.
I sometimes start with pencil or watercolor pencil that breaks down once you wet the paper. Watercolor is like a spontaneous shorthand and you really can't think about what you're doing as you do it. Think of a fencer, who has to respond instantly or get stabbed. You also have to understand negative as well as positive shapes/space/patterns that suggest the sensations of experience and evoke the viewer's eidetic memory (to use a three dollar word).
Like every aptitude, it's a blessing and a curse. Any obcessive/compulsive behavior is a form of slavery, but one tries to get free of its limitations by means of the very discipline that confines them. It takes awhile and one has to be obstinate and occasionally rewarded. Basically, as children we trusted our instincts, we weren't self-conscious and we didn't know we were making any "mistakes" Artist's sweat blood to get back to that state of grace, if you will.
The studio is heaven on Earth, while the so called art world is a hell--The Emperor's New Clothes on steroids--a festering morass of poseurs and mountebanks.
I'm working on an essay for a catalog called: "Some Thoughts About Ink Stains." I'll post it in the arts thread and stop clogging up this place
4652. thoughtful - 9/6/2007 9:52:43 AM
Fascinating. My envy drives me to think that if i could see into the mind of an artist, i'd find the key to be able to do it myself...but of course, it's a foolish venture.
My cousins are very artistic, but have abandoned it for other things...very difficult to make money being an artist. He taught art for many years and that ended. He was into portraiture that he wrapped with his own surrealistic images. I have one of a young girl he did where her long hair and body meld into the water below via roots like those of a mangrove tree though angel wings sprout from her back. His later pieces became only more surreal with the anchor of a realistic portrayal of an extant person. He gave up on it in the sense that he's now doing tatoos...the most incredible tatoos, but tatoos nonetheless. He said, for whatever reason, people won't pay him to put his art on the wall, but they'll pay him to wear it. Frankly, I think his art went nowhere largely because he didn't know how to market it.
His wife did the most incredible painting of an antique china doll in an attic...the fabrics upon which it sits look so real as to touch them. And on the doll's face is a single tear, put there because the children no longer play with her. She was studying to be a medical artist where the goal was to recreate reality exactly as she saw it. Unfortunately, she never completed her studies. I was always most sorry about that.
4653. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 9/6/2007 11:06:32 AM
Yeah, the tribe just wants their artists to help sell products or adorn egos. The simple magic of it is ignored and replaced by giant TV's or mega-events in mega-venues.
You have to love doing it for the activity--which has its own rewards. If the song is in your heart, you sing--not because you think you belong on stage at The Met.
I'll post that essay in arts.
4654. jexster - 9/12/2007 5:30:57 PM
Met a nice French lady on the bus. Odd. Her English was a bit halting but her accent nearly perfect AMERICAN! She was on a photography tour of Yosemite and SF, looking today at our lovely architecture or at least odd arhitecture.
"I wish I were going back to France on Friday!"
"No you don't. The place is crawling with rich Arab tourists and the French have left. Then when the tourists leave we have banlieus and all those Muslims with many wives and those children!"
4655. thoughtful - 10/2/2007 7:51:33 AM
Are you smarter than the class of 1869?
Take the MIT Entrance exam from 1869-70 and see how you do.
4656. jexster - 10/6/2007 6:47:53 PM
Blue Angels F-18's - Navy Fleet Week SFCA
Right over apartment now
4657. anomie - 10/8/2007 9:04:18 AM
I met Ms No!
I'm just back from Jexter's city where I also saw the air show from the vantage point of Treasure Island. But the highlight of my visit was stopping in Sacramento and sharing a coffee with Ms No in her neighborhood at a local independent coffee shop that looked like a movie set. I discoverd, as some of you already know, that she's gorgeous, charming, smart, and talented. (I learned she was voted the best non-union actress in Sacramento, which is quite an accomplishment considering the arts culture in that city.) For me it was a really special meeting, and it was the first time I've ever met a Motie in real life.
4658. judithathome - 10/8/2007 9:39:29 AM
Isn't she a treat? Keoni and I just love her and hate it that she won't be coming to our neck of the woods to see her parents since they've moved.
4659. jexster - 10/8/2007 10:26:01 AM
You shoulda stopped by the Castro Street Fair..the Obama Booth was rockin (we were the only campaign with a presence)...THough the rockin might have had something to do with the barechest calendar boys booth next
Great weekend eh? Blazing SF "summer" sun
4660. thoughtful - 10/8/2007 11:21:10 AM
I met Ms. No quite a few years ago, and she's terrific.
4661. anomie - 10/8/2007 1:23:05 PM
Jex, yes, the weather was great. We could have used some clouds to make it interesting, but I ain't complaining. This was our view.
4662. thoughtful - 10/8/2007 1:35:07 PM
yum
4663. wabbit - 10/8/2007 5:53:08 PM
Ms. No rules!
4664. Ms. No - 10/9/2007 11:14:36 AM
Meeting Anomie was definitely the highlight of my weekend! We could've probably sat talking until they shut the joint down for the night. Anomie is as easy and charming to talk to in person as he is in the Mote and I'm quite smug about having been his first Motie to meet in real life!!
4665. wonkers2 - 10/9/2007 5:10:51 PM
How about a little date with Cap'n Dirty next time he's in the Bay area?
4666. jexster - 10/9/2007 5:56:45 PM
Just say NO, No
4667. Ms. No - 10/10/2007 2:41:27 AM
Lemme know when you'll be around and I'll see if I can get into the City. I may even petition Jexster for a meet-up. ;->
4668. alistairconnor - 10/15/2007 8:41:02 AM
Yesterday I went bike riding with my girlfriend.
This was the first time in twenty years she's been on a bicycle. Her previous outing ended at the bottom of a ravine, followed by four months in a cast. She has been afraid to get on a bike since then; or rather, she has not been motivated enough to overcome her fear.
But I spend a lot of time on bikes; and I am offended by the fact that she takes her car to work, whereas it would be quicker on a bike, and very pleasant, with two thirds of the trip within the boundaries of the Parc de la tête d'or.
So I dragged an old bike out of my cellar and fixed it up, and yesterday, we did two laps of the park, and even followed the Rhone north-east a few kilometres.
We were very sore, but very proud of ourselves. Next weekend, we will work on stopping without crashing, and changing gears.
4669. jexster - 10/15/2007 10:13:29 AM
18 bucks a bottle at Costco!
Sure was good at 3.99
Placio de Sada (Navarro)
I didn't know that they made anything worth drinking but corner store owner bought 100 cases of the shit when his distributor couldn't sell the lot to Costco because the pallets were too flimsy for load out en masse
4670. wonkers2 - 10/24/2007 9:01:11 AM
4671. jexster - 10/24/2007 9:28:05 AM
Yo No! I'm here. Don't rely on the Capn tho. That's a leaky boat
4672. jexster - 11/2/2007 2:18:06 PM
Tejas Haute Country
They aren't really calling the Hill Country, Haute Country are they?
It was bad enuf the Texicans thought that those were hills in Austin
4673. jexster - 11/10/2007 3:10:45 PM
4674. wonkers2 - 11/28/2007 4:40:46 PM
Thanksgiving in Washington, DC
4675. wonkers2 - 12/9/2007 3:43:16 PM
4676. anomie - 12/9/2007 8:27:25 PM
Love those boats.
I visited a cousin who moved to Maine a couple years ago. It's like a different country up there. We saw some whales in the Bay of Fundy, about a million eagles and ate some great Lobstah!
What is it they call us non-Mainers? People from Away, or some such? And they call each other Maineiacs, of course.
4677. jexster - 1/24/2008 7:03:16 PM
Mount Shasta
4678. thoughtful - 2/1/2008 11:57:54 AM
Happy February Everyone! 
4679. anomie - 2/1/2008 12:50:12 PM
Thanks. You too.
Anybody have travel plans for the year?
4680. resonance - 2/1/2008 8:24:14 PM
Florida in the spring, Martha's Vineyard in July, and prolly whatever vacation time I have left will be spent sleeping.
4681. anomie - 2/1/2008 9:17:39 PM
What part of Florida? Just getting some sun?
4682. resonance - 2/1/2008 11:07:10 PM
Near Daytona, and yeah.
4683. alistairConnor - 2/2/2008 4:25:57 AM
There is a European cycleway from the Atlantic to the Danube. I realised I'd already done bits of it with my daughters. I want to do the whole thing, in bits. Now there are five of us, which makes it more complicated. We'll probably do a couple of segments in France and Germany in the long weekends of the spring, and perhaps a week reconnoitering the eastern end with my beloved. I've never been to Hungary.
We've also talked about Morocco in the summer, but I'm not big on heat, and it's actually getting quite expensive these days.
4684. anomie - 2/2/2008 3:19:16 PM
All that bicycling sounds like a vacation that'll keep you in shape. Something I could use. Really it sounds like a lot of fun.
4685. anomie - 2/2/2008 3:25:26 PM
I'm thinking about spending a month or so in England and Wales, couch surfing with a few friends and seeing sights I didn't see while I was there. It's so damn expensive though and the dollar is not the best currency to trade in these days. How to get around is my biggest question. Trains are NOT cheap in the UK but neither are car rentals. So, I'm still thinking it over.
4686. thoughtful - 2/2/2008 3:46:56 PM
3 guesses where thoughtful has been:
4687. arkymalarky - 2/2/2008 4:04:44 PM
Gorgeous!
4688. thoughtful - 2/2/2008 6:13:12 PM
Nice little trip that combined work and vacation allowing me to enjoy both a sunrise over the atlantic:
and a sunset in the pacific:
4689. thoughtful - 2/2/2008 6:14:31 PM
Back home again to catch this sunrise on my morning walk
4690. thoughtful - 2/2/2008 6:21:41 PM
Here's a shot of our walk on our favorite beach, Manalapan. This was where we turned around and headed back to the jetty ...that thin gray horizontal line in the distance. Had we kept going, it would have been much more of the same. On our entire walk, we met only 3 other people. That is unbelievable considering the hustle bustle that is going on only a short drive from the place. It's one of the few long pristine stretches of beach left on the Gold coast that isn't overpowered by hi-rise condos...only a few incredible mansions dot the coast here.
If I win the lotto, i'm moving to manalapan!
4691. anomie - 2/2/2008 6:39:54 PM
Very nice photos, Thoughtful. Did you use a filter on 4689? Strange sky color, but nice.
4692. wonkers2 - 2/2/2008 7:13:28 PM
Great shots, thoughtful! Keep 'em coming.
4693. thoughtful - 2/3/2008 10:07:22 AM
Thanks, guys.
anomie, I'm a point n shoot photographer with my little fuji fine pix a330. no filters, no special lenses... i just shoot what is there. Nature does the rest.
4694. jexster - 2/3/2008 1:58:12 PM
Marin County: Wild Ramble Across the Golden Gate
Good friends live in Mill Valley up on the side of Mt. Tamalpais. Daddy took the baby on a 9 mile hike in the drizzle the other day through the redwoods..Like right outside his door
The only county in CA whose state mandated plan calls for keeping people out
4695. anomie - 2/3/2008 3:05:19 PM
As I said before, Thoughtful, you have a good eye.
4696. wonkers2 - 2/3/2008 5:05:26 PM
thoughtful, where did you take the picture of the Golden Gate Bridge from? I've taken lots of pictures of the Gate but never got that good a shot.
4697. jexster - 2/3/2008 7:16:35 PM
Marin headlands Honkers..you ought to go up there sometime...Not very THOUGHTful not to give me a ring was it???
Neatest is on those summer days when fog streams in but not high enough to block the top of the towers
4698. anomie - 2/3/2008 7:37:37 PM
Looks like it's from the second pull-over parking area driving up the hill. Very nice views.
4699. thoughtful - 2/4/2008 11:10:24 AM
Jex, does it count that I thought of you while I was there?
I was in and out on business with only one late pm/evening free which I spent with old friends I haven't seen in years. They were kind enough to drive me all around town which included treasure island, a stop in marin to shoot the bridge and down to the beach. They also dragged my butt down lombard street, up nob hill, and all around fisherman's wharf. It was great fun.
Maybe next time...
4700. jexster - 2/4/2008 11:59:59 AM
Certainly! At least you aren't like Henpecked Honkers who several times now has called on arrival and called again on departure to apologize for not making obeisance
That's the difference between the Thoughtfilled and the Honking
4701. David Ehrenstein - 2/4/2008 1:26:02 PM
Whatever you do stay the hell out of Jamaica!
4702. judithathome - 2/4/2008 3:00:49 PM
Suddenly...last summer.....
4703. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 2/6/2008 4:10:52 PM
4704. judithathome - 2/6/2008 4:30:48 PM
Awww...my little chickadee!
4705. wonkers2 - 2/8/2008 11:28:09 AM
Scratch or modify my recommendation of Harold's Barbecue in Atlanta. I had lunch at the original Harold's day before yesterday. The barbecue and Brunswick stew and cornbread were still good. But the place has gone downhill since the last time I was there in 1979 or thereabouts. A nearby General Motors assembly plant that provided a big proportion of Harold's business closed several years ago and the place has gone to seed. The building is in bad need of repair and sprucing up after 61 years. The founding family still runs the place and a second Harold's at another location which I didn't get to. Atlanta is not an easy town for an out-of-towner to drive in. Very easy to get lost.
4706. wonkers2 - 2/19/2008 8:04:31 PM
We're enjoying a week in sunny Tucson. Had a rare delicacy for lunch today at Lerua which is going strong after 60 years or so--green corn tamales and a bottle of Bohemia. Tomorrow we're going on a day trip to Nogales where we'll have a late lunch at La Roca where they have good food and mariachi music.
4707. thoughtful - 3/3/2008 9:00:06 AM
Happy March everyone! 
4708. anomie - 3/6/2008 12:11:22 PM
Vegas has plenty of free parking and lots of surprises. I didn't even know Jerry Lee Lewis was still playing...
BUFFALO BILL'S
Star of the Desert Arena
March 15/Jerry Lee Lewis
March 29/Kenny Loggins
April 5/Merle Haggard
April 26/Michael McDonald
May 3/George Jones
May 24/Smokey Robinson
July 5/Reba McEntire
4709. anomie - 3/12/2008 2:50:47 PM
As it happens, I'll be in Hong Kong for a few days this month. I have the main guidebook events on the schedule, (So far it's Victoria Peak, the Temple Street night market, and a ride on the double decker tram), but I know exactly nothing else about the place. Does anyone have any advice on things to see or do, or maybe things to avoid?
4710. thoughtful - 3/14/2008 4:02:04 PM
It's friday, I'm tired, and i need something pretty to look at.
Hurry spring!
4711. anomie - 3/26/2008 11:06:11 AM
Just back from China and Vietnam. It was a strange experience to be a tourist in Vietnam considering my life was shaped by that war even though I was lucky not to go after being drafted. Hong Kong is still very British and free enterprise oriented, but communist China was a very different experience. I'll post a few pics when I get them sorted.
4712. wonkers2 - 3/28/2008 10:59:10 PM
4713. jexster - 4/2/2008 4:42:23 PM
4714. jexster - 4/2/2008 4:43:57 PM
Let's see if we can learn Wonk somethin
img src=http://hubpages.com/u/262399_f520.jpg
4715. jexster - 4/2/2008 5:27:32 PM
Speaking of the Honker Family
Bye Burbs, Hello Penthouse
Tired of the commute, El Cerrito empty nesters Claude and Nina Gruen sold the family house and moved downtown for sweeping views and short walks to the Symphony and restaurants. They couldn't be happier.
4716. thoughtful - 4/3/2008 11:48:48 AM
Happy April everyone! 
4717. jexster - 4/7/2008 10:06:24 AM
Where have all the oysters gone?
I was looking over the menu at a new SF Oyster Bar, Hog Island in the Ferry Building. This is the restaurant outlet of an internationally known oyster farm up in Marin County. The oysters are tasty but West Coast oysters are scrawny, compared to East Coast esp LA oysters which are "fat" and succulent.
I noticed that they had only two Atlantic offerings. So I checked out the Grand Central Oyster Bar in NyC - memories of a selection of at least 40-50 varieties from all coasts mostly East - Nova Scotia to Louisiana
And low and behold TWO THIRDS of their menu's offerings are lower quality West Coast - Hog Island included
Aparently what has happened is that Lousiana's hurricanes in 2005 destroyed an astonishing 400 million pounds of production..2/3 of the state's output..Louisiana was at the time the US leader. The shortage is good news for Washington and NoCali producers and their anorexic little bi-valves
4718. jexster - 4/7/2008 10:08:57 AM
PS...I qualify myself as an oyster expert having opened and et 13 dozen washed down with mass quantities of Dixie beer at a frat party
4719. anomie - 4/9/2008 10:00:27 AM
4720. anomie - 4/9/2008 10:00:51 AM
Ah, it worked!
4721. anomie - 4/9/2008 10:01:50 AM
The above enhanced w/Photoshop (Reflection)
4722. anomie - 4/9/2008 10:05:23 AM
Hong Kong in short:
Commerce, commerce, commerce
Shopping, shopping, shopping
Malls, malls, malls
Markets, markets, markets
Buses, buses, buses
Escalators, escalators, escalators
Buddha
Tall buildings on hills
Haze
4723. anomie - 4/9/2008 10:07:22 AM
Star Ferry:
4724. anomie - 4/9/2008 10:08:52 AM
Double-deck trams:
4725. anomie - 4/9/2008 10:10:17 AM
Bird Market:
4726. anomie - 4/9/2008 10:11:56 AM
Standard view from the "peak":
4727. anomie - 4/9/2008 10:14:09 AM
Fortune telling:
4728. anomie - 4/9/2008 10:15:29 AM
4729. anomie - 4/9/2008 10:17:10 AM
Escalators:
4730. anomie - 4/9/2008 10:18:34 AM
Night Market:
4731. wonkers2 - 4/9/2008 2:09:02 PM
Nice pictures. I'll show them to our architecture student friend here from Hong Kong.
4732. wonkers2 - 4/9/2008 2:09:31 PM
Nice pictures. I'll show them to our architecture student friend here from Hong Kong.
4733. thoughtful - 4/9/2008 2:37:34 PM
Wow...what a place!
I don't think I could tolerate all that hustle-bustle for very long. But certainly most interesting.
And shopping of course always has its attractions.
Thanks for the great shots.
4734. jexster - 4/9/2008 3:12:44 PM
That escalator shot Hong Kong side as I recall. And t'Fill is right. The shopping hubhub will give you a headache!
Been twice...was involved giving legal advice to a JV w/ Mitsubishi, the ChiComs, and Li-Kai Shing (the Chinese Taipan in Clavell's novel)...
First time I went, first day before jet lag wore off, I took one of those escalators, walked briefly around the HK Island bd and thence by Star Ferry straight to Kowloon where I walked for hours and bought nothing
It was SO fucking intimidating!
Later I more or less got a feel for things......on my second trip out
4735. anomie - 4/9/2008 3:23:39 PM
It IS a lot of hustle-bustle, till late at night. But it's surprisingly easy and cheap to get around on all the public trans options. The Star Ferry costs about 50 cents, for example.
We didn't realize the escalators were only one-way untill we were about two-thirds the way up. Uh-Oh! We learned they reverse and go down at 6 AM everyday, but of course we were stuck at the top at 4PM until a kind lady told us to take a mini bus back down to Central.
4736. anomie - 4/9/2008 3:24:15 PM
Jex. Hong Kong side. You're right.
4737. anomie - 4/9/2008 3:26:40 PM
I wish someone had told me to avoid the tram to the peak. Big crowd. Long wait. Short ride, packed in like sardines, and worst of all, NO VIEW! You see nothing on the way up.
Take the bus. It's cheaper, faster, and the views are spectacular.
4738. anomie - 4/9/2008 3:27:23 PM
Thanks, Wonks and Thoughtful.
4739. jexster - 4/9/2008 4:56:12 PM
I stayed at the Mandarin first time. White gloved chauffeur, black Mercedes. Second trip request I stay at the HK Hilton - they make guests take a TAXI! Seems the Hilton was one of Missa Li's properties....Had a bullshit audience with the slope in his office suite. Mahogany conference table, silver inlays, silver note pad holders...Great memories...long time ago tho
4740. anomie - 4/9/2008 5:45:42 PM
Sounds very posh. The kind of place that changes silverware all around if you order the fish. Very British.
I stayed at the Marco Polo Gateway in the mall. Ha!
4741. jexster - 4/9/2008 6:05:04 PM
Have expense account WILL travel
Otherwise, I can't afford to go to Sausalito!
All sorts of high living in those days...why I even had port and stilton at the Hong Kong Club...almost felt important
4742. thoughtful - 5/5/2008 3:15:50 PM
Happy May everyone! 
4743. anomie - 5/5/2008 6:26:03 PM
Nice sky!
4744. jexster - 5/24/2008 8:07:52 AM
Sounds like a most excellent vacation to me!
Wonk too
Personal politics aside, in an era of proliferating theme parks and “Girls Gone Wild” spring breaks, it is entirely possible that hanging out in former slave quarters — or, for that matter, the adjacent so-called “nigger pen” lockup — runs counter to most Americans’ idea of a vacation.
Driving Back Into Louisiana’s History
4745. anomie - 5/29/2008 3:32:29 PM
Back from the UK...
4746. anomie - 5/29/2008 3:34:27 PM
4747. anomie - 5/29/2008 3:35:55 PM
Seems I have to relearn the HTML trick everytime. Above is Bolton Priory, in Yorkshire.
4748. anomie - 5/29/2008 3:39:09 PM
Caenarfon Castle, North Wales
4749. anomie - 5/29/2008 3:41:33 PM
Bronte Country, Haworth Gardens...
4750. anomie - 5/29/2008 3:43:00 PM
From inside the Bronte house...
4751. anomie - 5/29/2008 3:43:34 PM
Shutterfly is cropping my pics for some reason. ??
4752. anomie - 5/29/2008 3:46:10 PM
While shooting I did not notice the symetry suggested in this shot.
4753. anomie - 5/29/2008 3:48:07 PM
Fountains Abbey, Yorkshire...
4754. anomie - 5/29/2008 3:50:10 PM
They say Constantine was crowned in York. This display is outside Yorkminster...
4755. anomie - 5/29/2008 3:54:06 PM
I think Shutterfly may have ruined this pic with a bad crop. The crop I made was tight to begin with. I waited ten minutes for a huge garbage truck to move out of the scene. Note the total lack of sky. Another trip with full sun and ugly light everyday, and it was hot too...in early May! The flowers were nice though.
4756. anomie - 5/29/2008 3:58:27 PM
Fountains Abbey...
4757. anomie - 5/29/2008 3:59:56 PM
May flowers...
4758. anomie - 5/29/2008 4:02:14 PM
Everything completely under control in York. Saying hello to all Moties. Come storm this little castle with me!
4759. alistairconnor - 5/30/2008 2:06:19 AM
Ah lovely. Haven't been that far north yet. Caernafon, can do, have done. No hurry, Fountains will still be there for a while.
4760. thoughtful - 5/30/2008 6:50:42 AM
Beautiful shots. thanks!
4761. anomie - 5/30/2008 10:02:16 AM
Thanks, Thoughtful.
That's the great thing about Europe, AC. Lots of things have been there for a good long while.
4762. thoughtful - 6/2/2008 7:59:13 AM
Happy June everyone.
4763. anomie - 6/6/2008 3:13:25 PM
Beautful sherbert-colored sky! And a nice silhouette effect too.
4764. jexster - 6/8/2008 7:53:32 PM
The New York Times headline reads "West Coast Paradise"
The Contemporary Jewish Museum - SFCA
4765. wonkers2 - 6/9/2008 7:53:01 AM
Clever! Designed as if there had already been an earthquake.
4766. jexster - 6/9/2008 10:01:28 AM
I didn't realize that the SF Bay Area has the third largest Jew population in the nation.
Shitty delis
So next time Wonk...watch what you say in public especially in highJew concentration locations like ST. Francis OK
4767. jexster - 6/16/2008 7:34:56 PM
Wonkers
Fruit of the Deep?
One good thing about the Sea Grille is that it avoids a nautical theme. The walls are a soothing sea green, and two large and fanciful sculptures of sea horses overlook the dining room. But no anchors, no knotted ropes, no hearty cap'ns. It's the denizens of the deep we're subtly reminded of, not the boat.
Sea Grille
6199 Orchard Lake Rd.
West Bloomfield, MI 48322
248-487-0326
4768. wonkers2 - 6/17/2008 11:21:40 AM
4769. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 6/18/2008 3:46:39 PM
For the Capt'n . . .
4770. wonkers2 - 6/18/2008 7:26:13 PM
The Cap'n sez, "Hilarious!"
4771. thoughtful - 6/21/2008 9:43:43 AM
So the thoughtfuls celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary this week in Ricketts Glen...one of the best hikes ever...past over 20 waterfalls. Just exquisite! We did it a couple of years ago and decided to go back...stayed in an old inn with full breakfast and a 5 course gourmet dinner at night. Just yummy.
The trail runs literally along side the falls, so you see the 96' falls and enjoy them, then have to hike the trail to reach the top...great work out for the old glutes!
Here are just a few of the falls.
4772. thoughtful - 6/21/2008 9:45:58 AM
Look closely to the left of the first bank of falls...that's me on the trail...just to get a sense of scale.
4773. thoughtful - 6/21/2008 9:46:45 AM
Each waterfall is so unique and beautiful, yet still they are quite the same...variations on a theme.
4774. thoughtful - 6/21/2008 9:47:59 AM
4775. thoughtful - 6/21/2008 9:48:36 AM
4776. jexster - 6/21/2008 6:44:31 PM
Been hot as hell last few days so I've been keeping an eye on the SF Bay Fog Forecast
Relief!
The AC is back on
4777. anomie - 6/21/2008 8:31:32 PM
Thoughtful, what a beautiful place. I have to put it on my list. Thanks!
4778. alistairConnor - 6/22/2008 4:12:59 PM
We had a cold and wet spring.
Then about three days ago it went sunny and hot. Like too hot to scythe the waist-high grass that has shot up during the wet spring : three minutes and you're dripping with sweat.
Suddenly summer. Nice.
4779. anomie - 7/5/2008 1:28:12 PM
4780. anomie - 7/5/2008 1:31:37 PM
4781. anomie - 7/5/2008 1:35:14 PM
4782. anomie - 7/5/2008 1:35:58 PM
4783. anomie - 7/5/2008 1:39:27 PM
Is it me or has Shutterfly changed? These pics are coming out like large thumbnails instead of actual pics. They lack detail and are even cropped.
4784. jexster - 7/7/2008 9:16:06 AM
Petulant Pierre
Most Obnoxious Tourists? The French
Even in France
4785. jexster - 7/12/2008 3:04:16 PM
Pigatorium Can Cook!
On my last visit to the Gourmet Delight BBQ deli on Stockton (aka Pigatorium), I saw piktcha Maltin Yan
Chinatown with Martin Yan ... Our first stop is Gourmet Delight Barbecue on Stockton Street, ...
One of the best bargains in Chinatown....they love me there..don't speak Engrish very well tho
4786. jexster - 7/12/2008 3:17:59 PM
Shots of the Pigatorium and Uncle Poon
Video: Martin Yan's Walking Tour of Chinatown
4787. jexster - 7/15/2008 7:22:56 PM
Le Hamburger
Cafe Salle Pleyel, Paris
Reminds me of the 6 dollar Prime Rib Burger at Carl's Jr
4788. jexster - 8/2/2008 2:13:21 PM
1962......
Just screwing around. I remembered the location of a Paris restaurant that my grandfather took me to - twice I believe because I liked it so much. Couldn't remember the name. STREET VIEW...Rue Mont Tabor/Rue Mondovi
It is still there...tables outside where we et...the very same
A "budget" classic I suppose...it was then
4789. jexster - 8/2/2008 2:15:54 PM
Un classique On mange bien chez Lescure, c'est vraiment bon . ...
4790. anomie - 8/15/2008 9:30:06 PM
Let's see if this works... 
4791. anomie - 8/15/2008 9:31:13 PM
Hmmm. 
4792. anomie - 8/15/2008 9:33:23 PM
Anyway...that's what I saw driving through Yosemite today. But it all looked so much bigger! Ha!
That first pic is entitled, "Thank You Mr. Adams". 
4793. anomie - 8/15/2008 9:34:38 PM
Oh I see... If you click on it, it links you to a larger pic.
4794. marjoribanks - 8/16/2008 3:09:22 AM
Superb photos, Anomie. What amazing landscapes.
4795. wonkers2 - 8/16/2008 8:49:44 AM
Yes, nice, but I wish I could "biggerize" them.
4796. anomie - 8/20/2008 6:37:51 PM
Thanks, Marj. It;s easy of course when the landscape is right there before you. I did use a polarizer filter to cut the glare.
4797. anomie - 8/20/2008 6:38:46 PM
Thanks Wonks, I guess I gotta find a new host. Shutterfly doesn't seem to work well anymore.
4798. thoughtful - 8/21/2008 6:48:53 AM
Anomie, Yum!
4799. jexster - 8/22/2008 6:24:23 PM
My fave SF restaurant...too bad Cindy McCain's taken
Sturgeon and Root Vegetables - La Folie SF
Cuisses de grenouille
4800. jexster - 8/22/2008 7:16:55 PM
4801. jexster - 8/22/2008 7:19:37 PM
white tea creme brulee, raspberry sorbet, passionfruit chocolate cake
4802. jexster - 8/22/2008 7:22:13 PM
From Martin Yan "can cook"
4803. anomie - 8/23/2008 9:29:37 AM
Well plated!
4804. anomie - 8/23/2008 9:32:56 AM
I am in Chicago (on the hotel's computer), taking pics at a wedding this afternoon. I may go into the city tomorrow nd be a tourist in my home town. I can report that the hot dogs and pizza are as great as ever!
4805. jexster - 8/23/2008 6:48:55 PM
I LOVE Chicago...Had a bunch of college buds from Lake Forest down to Flossmoor
One who's dad later to prison for securities fraud, had a beautiful condo near Oak St. Beach roughly across the street from the 'Cock
4806. jexster - 8/23/2008 6:51:59 PM
Passot loves to clown...only been once..a tower of sweebreads and lobster
L'assiette de boeuf
4807. anomie - 8/24/2008 9:49:34 AM
Chicago is a much better town these days than back in 60's when I grew up here. Downtown has so many flowers, you might think you were in England.
The wedding was perfect. A gorgeous couple, a beautiful rural location, and nice filtered light through partly cloudy skies. I haven't had light like that in several years.
I'm off to the city and Lincoln Park today, where I'm sure there is an abundance of hot dogs and Italian beef sandwiches.
4808. jexster - 9/2/2008 6:25:28 PM
Ready to disgorge Chevron windfall profits!
A friend is coming out for business and we're going to spend a Nov weekend in Napa.
I am in charge of food..hehehe
Guide Michelin:
The French Laundry
Three Stars
Cyrus
Two Stars
Healdsburg Contemporary French
Meadowood, The Restaurant
Two Stars
St. Helena Californian
Auberge du Soleil
One Star
Napa French
Bouchon
One Star
Yountville French
Farmhouse Inn & Restaurant
One Star
Forestville Californian
K & L Bistro
One Star
Sebastopol French
Madrona Manor
One Star
Healdsburg Contemporary American
Martini House
One Star
St. Helena Contemporary American
Redd
One Star
Yountville Contemporary American
Aaah decisions decisions
4809. Jenerator - 9/2/2008 6:37:57 PM
Anomie!!
What gorgeous pictures. The Abbey is one of my favorites.
I am so glad to finally see your face. :-)
4810. thoughtful - 9/3/2008 6:44:02 AM
Jex, many many moon ago when we were on our honeymoon, we ate at this fab restaurant called the clock...i believe it was in the monterey area...is it still around? Have you heard of it?
4811. jexster - 9/3/2008 9:16:52 AM
I haven't been to Monterey in EONS...But I think it's something else now
4812. anomie - 9/3/2008 1:42:32 PM
Jen! You're very kind. Good to see you here.
4813. jexster - 9/3/2008 6:10:48 PM
Nice trip to Yosemite BTW..one of my favorite places...Love Tuolemne Meadows ...many fine memories..altitude sickness tho
Lembert Dome
4814. jexster - 9/3/2008 7:15:04 PM
I've decided on Cyrus in Healdsburg ...one choice down
18/20 Gayot
** Michelin
photos
4815. thoughtful - 9/6/2008 8:08:57 AM
Beautiful jex...those clouds on the right are exactly the colors i want to use when i paint the ceiling in my new dining room.
4816. neato - 9/10/2008 4:18:23 AM
Why not use Flickr, Anomie? (nice pics btw)
4817. anomie - 9/10/2008 11:06:31 AM
Hi neato. As it happens I did try Flickr and they do allow linking. Thanks.
What have you been up to? Good to see you here...
4818. neato - 9/11/2008 2:15:39 AM
Flickring alot actually, Anomie
4819. neato - 9/11/2008 2:16:25 AM
Oh no! it didn't work
4820. neato - 9/11/2008 2:31:30 AM
4821. alistairconnor - 9/11/2008 5:03:20 AM
Crikey dick, it's Neato!
Tragically, I mostly do moting from work, and Flickr is in the list of sites considered "unprofessional" by the people who censor our internet access. (Lucky they never heard of the Mote, really.)
So how about a thousand words to replace the missing picture eh?
4822. anomie - 9/11/2008 12:49:39 PM
Love your Flickr pics, Neato. It's like a walk through time. You're lucky to have so many pics from an era when cameras were not as ubiquitous as today. You and your family are gorgeous!
4823. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 9/11/2008 3:22:18 PM
I enjoyed them too (fwiw). I love seeing lovely people leading lovely lives--it's reassuring.
4824. jexster - 9/11/2008 3:46:27 PM
World renown Chef Thomas Keller of the French Laundry & Bouchon (Yountville) and Per Se NyC with the Republican Ticket
Calendared a reservation attempt next week exactly two months in advance. 16 tables, race for the phones and/or the ONE table for two that they hold for the lunch seating
4825. neato - 9/11/2008 4:16:46 PM
Thanks for looking, Anomie.
That was then, this is now, Wiz. Poor but (fairly) happy.
Hell's bloody teeth, Alistair, that is tragic about Flickr being blocked.
4826. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 9/11/2008 9:56:01 PM
Are you a gilder?
4827. neato - 9/12/2008 3:40:47 AM
Lloyd (my husband)is. Restoring or copying old frames.
4828. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 9/12/2008 7:59:00 AM
A noble activity--every good wish!
4829. wonkers2 - 9/12/2008 8:34:35 AM
Neato, nice pictures of a good family and an interesting odyssey.
4830. neato - 9/12/2008 3:51:12 PM
Thankyou WOW and Wonkers.
4831. jexster - 9/17/2008 12:16:21 PM
Thomas Keller and his French Laundromat can bite my ass
They take reservations 2 mos to the date in advance beginning at 10 am
I was on and speed dialing at 9:59...at 10:00:30 the line was busy and when I finally got through...waiting list 11/14-16
4832. jexster - 9/17/2008 5:13:58 PM
Madrona Manor
Healdsburg
4833. jexster - 9/17/2008 5:14:48 PM
4834. jexster - 11/9/2008 6:25:44 PM
George Herbert Hoover Bush's parting gift - the G20 summit next weekend ..forced the cancellation of my Chevron Obama Victory Party Weekend in Sonoma wine country...my friend Laura and the rest of the Govt Relations group working all weekend trying desperately with International Jewry to figure out how to squeeze the last drop of blood from the rest of us turnips
4835. jexster - 11/9/2008 6:33:07 PM
So long Thai Lobster thingy
Au revoir poussin with black fungus
4836. alistairConnor - 11/10/2008 1:15:03 PM
Damn!
All that so that GWB can get sternly talked to by Sarko...
Talk about kicking a man when he's down
4837. thoughtful - 11/11/2008 8:55:28 AM
I'm so mad and I'm losing sleep.
$(#&%)@!!! framers haven't been showing up so not all the exterior trim is done so that means the painters can't come and paint so the siding (vinyl) can't go up.
the weather is already getting too cold to paint so that means our house will be covered in tyvek through the winter.
I'm so mad I am spitting bullets.
I reamed the project mgr ( and I use the term lightly ) a new body orifice yesterday but I have no idea for what purpose.
Even if the framers get the house down this week, with the holiday coming, it'll be too cold to paint until after winter.
I'm ready to fire the project mgr but even if i did, a new bldr wouldn't be able to warm the weather up any sooner than the old guy.
And of course the house is costing us $$$$ more than we had planned. That means financing costs are going to start rising with every delay.
I'm so angry. I'm presuming he'll show up at the house today and I'll be there to enlarge the orifice.
It may not change anything, but at least I'll be able to vent.
4838. wonkers2 - 11/11/2008 9:16:26 PM
4839. jexster - 11/11/2008 10:56:08 PM
Au revoir French Laundry....
4840. alistairconnor - 11/12/2008 1:26:50 PM
Excellent stuff Wonk...
If all goes according to plan, I'll be sailing with my brother and his family in January. They do competition in small boats (forgotten which class), last weekend all four of them (mum, dad and the two boys) were all on the honours board... Elder nephew, 15, got line honours on one race but was trumped by his mother who won on handicap.
4841. jexster - 11/12/2008 4:56:30 PM
Excellent?
Not if you are a US taxpayer being asked to subsidize that crap
4842. wonkers2 - 11/12/2008 5:04:00 PM
If any of them get to Detroit in sailing season look me up. I'll be happy to take them for a sail on the smallest of the Great Lakes--Lake St. Clair!
4843. jexster - 11/12/2008 6:45:54 PM
4844. jexster - 11/12/2008 6:51:53 PM
4845. jexster - 11/13/2008 2:15:20 PM
4846. jexster - 11/13/2008 2:34:10 PM
4847. wonkers2 - 11/13/2008 3:05:05 PM
Jex, you have too much time on your hands!
4848. jexster - 11/13/2008 6:00:49 PM
Says you!
Dodd: Senate Won't Bailout GM
4849. jexster - 11/13/2008 6:10:09 PM
4850. jexster - 11/13/2008 6:22:22 PM
In the Pointes...the livin is easy
4851. jexster - 11/13/2008 6:27:29 PM
4852. jexster - 11/13/2008 6:37:03 PM
Hey Wonkers...they ever let you into the Southern Yacht Club?
4853. wonkers2 - 11/13/2008 11:17:03 PM
Nope. And if memory serves it was destroyed by Katrina (God's will, of course, fer it's lily white membership policy.)
4854. jexster - 11/14/2008 1:21:07 PM
We'll rebuild Tara!!!
I had college and high school youth racing buddies out of SYC.
I didn't think they'd let your kind in
4855. jexster - 11/14/2008 1:23:59 PM
Dined with Chevron last night before her return to Bushville for the G-20 Summit
We're looking at January! Will lightening strike twice in the same place? Will I get a SECOND chance at a reservation???
French Laundry (Yountville, CA) - Calculated Cuisine
The French Laundry has taken on a mythical status, an impossible restaurant firmly entrenched in foodie pantheon. There may not be a more oft-mentioned destination restaurant besides El Bulli. It’s tucked away in Yountville, California, a less and less probable place for Thomas Keller’s vision - a Disneyland-type simulacrum for those following the Napa Valley wine trails. Indeed, the restaurant’s critics might say the location is representative of the food one will encounter - a perfection without blemish or character, sanitized, safe, and soulless.
There is considerable debate as to whether an American Michelin 3 Star restaurant is the equivalent to French 3 Stars. I disagree with Michelin’s San Francisco 2 Star picks, but there’s no question a meal at The French Laundry is akin to 3 Star French dining. This was my fifth meal, the fourth in the past two years (see last review.) Things rarely go wrong here; and the food even less so. But the myth has taken on a life of its own. The expectations are so high that philopsophical and practical consideration must be taken into account before eating. Many food bloggers, particularly Refined Palate, have had transcendental meals at TFL. Others, while pleased, expected more.
4856. jexster - 11/14/2008 1:31:58 PM
Chevron recently dined at the Four Seasons in Boston. Waiter there had worked at TFL and Cyrus in Healdsburg. Says the latter is CA's best restaurant.
I shall review, God willing.
4857. jexster - 11/14/2008 2:05:47 PM
"Check Please Bay Area" - a fun show on KQED in SF..three ordinary folks choose 3 restaurants each visiting and reviewing the other
This episode features Cyrus and an excellent Vietnamese rest., the Slanted Door
4858. jexster - 11/14/2008 8:46:37 PM
and don't count on shivering your timbers in the new yacht club either
4859. jexster - 11/15/2008 2:57:25 PM
4860. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 11/15/2008 4:29:09 PM
Are those mushrooms, pastry . . . or midget penises?
4861. jexster - 11/16/2008 12:23:44 PM
Salmon tartare coronets, amuse bouche French Laundry
(The Macaca penis is a red onion thing)
4862. jexster - 11/17/2008 12:22:07 PM
NEW YAWRK CITEE
New Yorker - The Best Tejas BBQ in the World
4863. jexster - 11/17/2008 1:18:43 PM
Not that I'm jealous or anything but a friend and his partner fled SF for Boone NC
The seasonally changing view from their front deck
4864. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 11/18/2008 9:49:51 AM
4865. robertjayb - 11/18/2008 10:38:20 AM
Thanks for the movie, Wiz.
4866. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 11/18/2008 8:14:56 PM
4867. wonkers2 - 11/18/2008 11:26:50 PM
Wow! Spectacular escape.
4868. jexster - 11/20/2008 4:06:35 PM
Thanks for the memories
Jexie was there with his partner Bryon..about 10 feet back
Notorious Polk street hellion and ex-Con "S&M Brian" was smashing the door to City Hall behind these pohleeses
Police cars burn in "White Night" riot 1979
4869. anomie - 11/29/2008 5:01:43 AM
I'm off early this morning to see the pyramids, among other places. I will no doubt bore you all with pics in a couple weeks.
4870. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 11/29/2008 9:25:59 AM
Great!
4871. alistairConnor - 12/17/2008 12:32:01 AM
We arrived in NZ six hours ago, at midday local time, midnight French time, after two nights on planes, near enough to zero sleep, and a Hong Kong shopping visit in between.
Oddly enough I have felt fairly OK so far... starting to feel very tired, shouldn't have had that beer perhaps. Or rather, I will need several more to avoid collapse. If we manage to stay the course until tonight, we will be fine tomorrow, our biological clocks cleaned.
4872. judithathome - 12/17/2008 10:10:08 AM
I hope you managed that, Alistair...that's what we always do after long flights. We both get a little weird with lack of sleep and that's when bizarre things are promised. We've learned over the years to not take anything said the first day of vacation seriously!
4873. anomie - 12/17/2008 10:13:55 AM
You're a better jet-lagger than me. I'm fine the first day, but the second and third day hit me pretty hard. I got back a few days ago and I'm still out of sync from just a 9 hour difference.
In any case, happy holidays down yonder...
4874. judithathome - 12/17/2008 10:15:47 AM
Anomie, I know you meant NZ but you could mean Texas, too!
Do you think you'll ever make it down this way? We'd love to show you around our fair city.
4875. anomie - 12/17/2008 10:24:41 AM
I'd love to visit and meet you...and Arky too. Thanks for the welcome. (I saw your note to Arky about the jam session. I have been known to play a few chords on the guitar and croon along on occasion. It sounded like fun.)I do have an old friend near Houston (Orange county, really), and have been meaning to get down that way someday. I'll let ya know.
And if you get out this way, please look me up.
4876. anomie - 12/17/2008 10:28:31 AM
BTW, I have discovered that Ambien is great at cutting the flight time when crossing time zones, and it helps get my sleep adjusted. Not sure what the dependency dangers are so I rarely use it at home. But when I've spent money on a trip, I don't want to toss and turn all night and miss a day sleeping in.
4877. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 12/17/2008 10:58:32 PM
4878. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 12/17/2008 11:17:57 PM
4879. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 12/18/2008 8:07:58 PM
4880. anomie - 12/19/2008 10:56:23 AM
4881. anomie - 12/19/2008 10:58:05 AM
Above: One of a thousand trash piles in alleys and streets in Egypt. I'll sound like a Western snob when I say I wish there was a way to visit ancient Egypt without dealing with the modern version.
4882. anomie - 12/19/2008 11:02:55 AM
It was the day of public slaughter to commemorate Abraham's willingness to perform the human sacrifice of his son Ishmael. What a guy! What a god! Seems they do the slaughter in public and give the best parts of the animal to the poor.
4883. anomie - 12/19/2008 11:06:11 AM
Not much color in daily life except for decrepid sheet metal advert signs, the occasional meon in town center, and corner markets... 
4884. anomie - 12/19/2008 11:06:41 AM
Neon, of course...
4885. anomie - 12/19/2008 11:08:20 AM
Egyption cotton, (Wait. Is this Naples?).
4886. anomie - 12/19/2008 11:11:31 AM
Can't add anything to the photographic canon of the pyramids on a 3 hour bus tour, but it was fun grabbing these tried and true shots: 
4887. anomie - 12/19/2008 11:12:40 AM
4888. anomie - 12/19/2008 11:16:05 AM
Unlike Cairo, photos were allowed in the Alexandria museum although it was really too dark. Here's a couple screen captures from the movie cam.
Akhenaton: The first monotheiest? 
4889. anomie - 12/19/2008 11:17:29 AM
Me, with an Egyption babe: 
4890. anomie - 12/19/2008 11:20:55 AM
Alexandria lighthouse locale in the background: 
4891. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 12/19/2008 11:22:02 AM
Nevertheless, still an amazing place. Thanks for expanding my awareness of what a trip there would be like.
How was the food?
4892. anomie - 12/19/2008 11:23:17 AM
Curious male affection seen quite commonly. I also noticed some grown men doing the hand caress as they chatted. 
4893. anomie - 12/19/2008 11:27:48 AM
Wiz, we had two lunches at two different hotels. One was a typical buffet of western style food. The other was a sit down at - can you believe? - an italian place where the food was pretty fatty and starchy. I had a piece of fish. We had breakfast and dinner on the ship, so I didn't get a real traveler's experience of the place, and after a taste, I can't say I'd want one.
4894. anomie - 12/19/2008 11:29:31 AM
Can you hear me now? No shortage of cell phone technology... 
4895. anomie - 12/19/2008 11:31:07 AM
A beautiful mosgue...Alexandria. 
4896. anomie - 12/19/2008 11:34:00 AM
The ruins at Ephesus are extensive and worth a visit. Much talk of Paul and how he was chased out by fans of Artemis... 
4897. anomie - 12/19/2008 11:36:40 AM
Travel buddy on a Roman road, and a shot from Palatine Hill. 
4898. anomie - 12/19/2008 11:38:05 AM
Ancient rubble: 
4899. anomie - 12/19/2008 11:39:48 AM
And finally, (for now), boys and girls...Malta and a nice sky. 
4900. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 12/19/2008 1:53:35 PM
Thanks again and nothing like travel to expand the spirit. I'm sure the food got better in Italy and Malta
4901. wonkers2 - 12/20/2008 12:02:09 PM
Great pix, anomie! Tnx & happy holidays!
4902. anomie - 12/22/2008 5:34:22 PM
Thanks Wonks. Stay cozy up there. I hear it's pretty cold lately in Detroit!
4903. judithathome - 12/22/2008 11:37:09 PM
Loved the pics, Anomie! Especially Akhenaton...I saw a History Channel show on him and was fascinated about the diagnosis of...whatever it was...about him based on modern day analysis. Unfortunately I can't recall what the diagnosis was.
4904. wonkers2 - 12/23/2008 3:21:47 PM
Yes, it's cold in Detroit and we've had more than 10 inches of snow in the last couple of days. Last night the temp was 5 below zero and the last three companies headquartered in Detroit are on the verge of bankruptcy and the unemployment rate is approaching ten percent. How about a little sympathy?!
4905. anomie - 12/23/2008 11:11:30 PM
I sympathize, I tell ya. Last week we got 3 inches of snow in Vegas and it stayed on the ground almost till morning. Ha!
No, but I really do. I grew up in Chicago, so I've done some cold time, and sone snow shovel duty.
4906. alistairConnor - 12/24/2008 3:46:22 AM
well I decline to apologise for side-stepping winter. Just spent a couple of days in the middle of the North Island, walking over the Tongariro volcanoes (one of the great one-day walks, just rewind four years in this thread for photos), and rafting down the (eponymous) Tongariro river -- not life-threatening, but fast and furious!
4907. alistairconnor - 12/24/2008 4:56:33 AM
Photos of the Tongariro crossing, Message # 2914 on my previous iteration four years ago.
I worked out that this time was my fourth crossing. My little sister, who I am staying with, has never been, and is still resentful about missing the 1968 crossing. She would have been six, which is frankly too young for a serious eight-hour hike, but as she pointed out, our older sister was also excluded, FOR BEING A GIRL.
4908. alistairconnor - 12/24/2008 5:13:06 AM
Elder sister is extensively quoted in this week's edition of the nation's principal magazine, Christmas edition, on the evils of alcohol (she's an epidemiologist, and the numbers are incontrovertible, it promotes cancer, and there is No Safe Dose.) We (little sister and I) are both proud and mirthful, because she's both a moderate and a binge drinker, just like us (like all six siblings, save one brother, who is the only one to have had an alcohol problem, and who is now, to my surprise and delight, entirely dry!)
Big Sister also argues persuasively, in the same article, for raising the drinking age from 18 to 20.
4909. alistairConnor - 1/13/2009 2:50:09 AM
Just about to leave for the airport. This trip has been too much fun to write about, in real time at least. I suspect I may ruminate on it here, once I'm back in the depths of European winter.
4910. webfeet - 1/15/2009 8:35:07 PM
Tongariro crossing: Is it really called Mount Doom? That's quite frightening.
Speaking of European winters, Provence just had a grande chute de neige that apparently took the aixois by surprise. TGV's were rerouted, roads were blocked; the photos beau-pere sent, I mistook for the alps. Hope your homecoming was spared the blizzard.
Lovely vacation photos. I haven't seen the coliseum from that view (sigh) since I was twenty-two..
4911. alistairConnor - 1/17/2009 6:06:27 AM
This picture, from Google Street View, shows my sister's house, where we were based this past month, and incredibly enough, the car which features in these adventures.
