away again

Tomorrow morning I leave Philadelphia, where I've been for a total of ten weeks, for West Virginia. The same storms responsible for some of the flooding and tornadoes plaguing the Midwest also struck the mountain state. While I'm sure I'll soon lament the lack of culture and cuisine, I am eager to leave the monotony of the Regional Office for the pace of a disaster.

Popped! Philadelphia

Lamenting the Dutch's loss earlier, I sought consolation and music at Popped!. I arrived at the Drexel campus to see Crystal Castles (pictured above) take the stage. The booming base driving the crowd as the lead singer bleated into the microphone. Full of life and energy, and definitely worth seeing in a more contained environment where their music would even more easily consume the crowd.

Following them, Mates of State, disappointed. Their cute synth-pop, delicate and intricate on their excellent album Re-Arrange Us melded into a blob of noise. At times they brought a cellist on-stage, but she was drowned out and barely audible. The trumpeter suffered similarly. Clearly better suited in-studio, much like the Dutch, their effort lacked rhythm and couldn't deliver at key moments.

More than the music, I was struck by the youth of the crowd, or perhaps by my agedness. Not a surprise that a concert on a college campus would be populated with kids, but it's a scarce occasion that I'm considerably older than 90 percent of a crowd. I fear this will become less and less rare as time continues to pass.

educational too

Not only do they provide top class football, the Euros are educational too. European footballers have the option of playing for either the nation in which they were born, or the nation of either parent. Kâzim Richards, an Englishman, decided after not qualifying for England's national side, to join Turkey, where one if his parents was born.

To gain Turkish citizenship, he, as all Turks, had to take a Muslim last name. And so Kâzim Kâzim was born. Good to know that if I suddenly become among the best footballers in the world I could join the Germans, perennial favorites in both Euro and World Cup competitions. I suppose I'd better hit the training grounds.

Euro 2008

Today concludes the group stage of Euro 2008. The football tournament, a contest between European national teams, has been thrilling in the preliminary rounds, each days games offering something marvelous. The Dutch, a side close to my heart both because of their open, aggressive style of play and the wonder of their country, have been dominant, scoring brilliantly and with ease. Spain has also impressed, though they will be tested early in the knockout rounds, where they often falter.

With matches daily, keeping up with the tournament has been a challenge, particularly with its matches played during the work day. Fortunately, ESPN has been much better about broadcasting this tournament, and most afternoons, a match greets me upon my return to my hotel.

Perhaps the greatest appeal to international football tournaments like Euro and the World Cup is the ceaseless stream of matches, offering neutral fans little respite. When most matches are of this high quality, played daily, fans can barely recover from the drama of one match before being thrust into another, then another.

The schedule also inhibits the endless post- and pre-game analysis, most of which offers no insight. What’s left is sport of the highest quality and drama, with few distractions. Amazing what happens when commerce isn’t allowed to gut the essence of athletics.

the wilson wedding

The ceremony, held in the garden outside the Gale Mansion was brief and a bit moving. Behind Andy, I watched Angela looking him from, her gaze brimming with love and joy and elation.

As we sat down to dinner, the skies opened and it began to rain, then hail. Timing everything, an hour earlier and we would all have been scrambling, instead it was a bit of entertainment while the food arrived.

Andy's family was surprised and thrilled my toast wasn't vulgar or inappropriate. It seemed a real and serious concern given how many people made comments to me about it at the groom's dinner the night before. Her dad then stole the show with an emotional speech only a father can give.

Now they're in Europe, married and I'm back in Philadelphia.

tulips!

My optimism in the fall has been rewarded with blooming bulbs. Sadly I'm not home to enjoy them, at least my doormat is.

Phillies: 10, Blue Jays: 3

Despite an unceasing mist, having already bought my ticket, and under a mild obligation from work, I again visited Citizens Bank Park for a Friday night Phillies game.

Arriving late, the first pitch I saw was hit out of the park by Jason Werth for a three-run home run in the second inning. In the third he approached the plate with the bases loaded. Again he drove the ball into the seats.

Soaked and shivering, I committed to watching Werth's third at bat. He again came through, though this time with the bases empty. My coworkers having disappeared to an in-stadium bar, I abandoned the game, hoping Werth wouldn't continue his home-run binge and set records. Returned to my hotel I learned that he did not continue his success and that that my departure was well timed, there was little scoring and no change to the outcome.

Nationals: 9, Pirates: 8

Down to DC for the weekend, the highlight a trip to the new Nationals Park. The stadium is new, clean and modern, but fails to stand out. There are no moments of astonishment, and my inability to identify its best featuer speaks volumes. PNC Park in Pittsburgh is the best ballpark I've visited, in large part because of the wide gap in left-center field that reveals the river below and skyscrapers beyond.
Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia incorporates the concourses into the game, with fans able to stroll above the bullpens, gather above the brick wall in centerfield. That Nationals Park takes all the basic design elements of these parks — wide concourses and better people-moving systems — but fails to add anything remarkable disappoints.
The highlight of every Nationals game is the Presidents Race. Because the Pirates were in town, the Pierogi Racers joined the race, their tastiness too much temptation for Teddy Roosevelt who chased them aimlessly while George and Abe battled to the end with Washington taking the win:

i'm gone

Two weeks in Europe, a week home and it's back to Philadelphia. There, with fewer dinner parties and concerts perhaps I'll finally review trans-Atlantic travels, or just blog more than twice a month. Or perhaps I'll just occasionally check in with a post admonishing myself for my failure to blog.

sprouts

Last fall's optimism appears to have been well-placed, as upon my return from Holland and its myriad tulips, greeting me were sprouts from the bulbs I planted. In a week, perhaps two, these sprouting leaves still fighting their way through the dirt will bloom, bringing color and life to my garden, if only briefly.

Whether I'll be in Minneapolis to enjoy the bloom remains an open question. Content from the trip forthcoming.

europe

Amsterdam behind us, it's a chilly day in Paris, overcast and gloomy. Tomorrow, we head for Tours, and hopefully warmer weather.

Blogging will be sparse until I return, having left the cord for my laptop at home, probably the most important non-travel document I could have forgotten. Utter failure.

ready to fly

Having just settled home after two months on the road, it has quickly again become time for another jarring shock to my body's clock and my sense of place.

Tonight, as the sun falls over Minneapolis, I board a plane to head east. Stopping to greet the sun in Iceland, I'll continue to arrive in Amsterdam Saturday afternoon. From there a two week jaunt across four countries ensues. Tales forthcoming.

hard hitting journalism

Today the National Archives released Sen. Clinton's schedules while she was first lady. More than 17,000 pages will have journalists combing through the files for days, but it's good to know that major news organizations have their priorities straight, as the first story emerges from the data dump:

Hillary Was in White House on 'Stained Blue Dress' Day:

Hillary Clinton spent the night in the White House on the day her husband had oral sex with Monica Lewinsky, and may have actually been there when it happened, according to records of her schedule released today by the National Archives.

The day after Sen. Obama gives the best political speech of my lifetime, and the media quickly returns to the frivolity of an affair ten years in the past. Pathetic.

pool > soccer

The Champions League is the premier club football tournament in Europe, pitting the best teams from leagues throughout the continent against each other. Several years ago, ESPN bought the rights to air Champions League broadcasts in the U.S. Soccer fans hoped this would improve access to the matches, even if on tape delay, and grow the sport here in the U.S.

Instead, ESPN relegates CL matches to ESPN Classic. Fine. They certainly aren’t helping grow the sport, but that isn’t ESPN’s job (apparently that is to ruin all sports and all sports highlights by backing them with Nickleback songs and editing them such that I pass out disoriented before the conclusion of the segment).
Asking the bartender if she could switch to ESPN Classic, she failed, but offered ESPN 2 as an alternative. Unfortunately with sporting events, you are either watching the match or not. CSI: Miami may be a close substitute for CSI: Darfur (those guys have their hands full), but speed billiards are in no way an acceptable substitute for the highest level of European club football.

Clearly, my folly for an interest in the most popular sport in the world.

painting dc blue

A brief weekend in DC involved painting my sister's kitchen with her friends. Zack, above, struggled keeping paint out of his hair.

Absent long from my house my dreams and projects lie fallow. To help someone else move theirs along is a strong substitute, and the end result was terrific.

tased and confused

Months before the event, before there is any indication of the scope or nature of protests at the Repbulican National Convention in St. Paul, the police are escalating the conflicts to come:

ST. PAUL -- St. Paul police are about to issue Tasers to all 370 officers on the force. Police say they are a safe way to stop a potential threat, but some people say Tasers are dangerous and sometimes deadly....

Shortly after the new shipment of Tasers arrives in St. Paul, the Republican National Convention will come to town, and with it, protestors who may or may not get violent.

Claims that tasers are safe, non-lethal options for crowd control are false. Between 2001 and 2004, more than 70 people were killed by Tasers. Since, studies have shown that the weapons are not as safe as the manufacturers claim, and long-term effects of tasing have not been well examined.

However more troubling than the lethality of the weapons is the decision to deploy them. Providing police with what they perceive to be a safe, simple option for controlling a non-compliant citizen and they are sure to use it. But don't we want violence by law enforcement — and to be clear, tasers are violent — to be the last resort and not the first?

Offering a supposed non-lethal weapon as an alternative to a gun makes some sense if tasers were used exclusively in situations where officers would otherwise be using a gun. But there are countless anecdotes of police using tasers to subdue subjects to don't comply with an officer but are not violent, examples like the now-famous "don't tase me bro" student.

In a loud, chaotic protest, where the line between passionate expression and dangerous activity may seem blurred, arming police with a more dangerous, deadly tool to control the crowd is ill-advised and could prove catastrophic.

an afternoon in the forest

The trees shoot skyward, thin and straight, seemingly defying physics to tower above. Their canopy darkens vast forest, making it intimate, private. Along the banks of the winding rivers the canopy clears, deepening the valley and offering smaller trees a change to tangle themselves into the moss and ferns and dirt.

The water winds its way through the forest, slowly until it finds a drop. Then cascading down it rushes into pools below, coating everything in a damp mist. Moss covers the nearby trees, their branches wrenched in crooked green tendrils.

Trails throughout lead us by several falls, each impressive. Some twist perilously close to a cliff's edge, others bend beneath a ceiling of rock and we stoop to pass.

At the end we brave ever increasing mist to stand underneath and behind the waterfall. The sound of a wall of water rushing by quiets everything, the air is warn and wet and my ears fill with an immense roar. It cascades from above in a torrent, trapping me within as it speeds perilously by.

60 hours in the Rose City

With a holiday weekend and a free plane ticket, it was again time for a trip across the country to Portland. It remains the my favorite U.S. city, green and , easy to navigate and to wrap my mind around. The city is close to nature of all kinds and full of culture and food and beer.

This trip, perhaps too brief given the hours of air travel necessary, was nonetheless satisfying. Spending time with Scot and Kelly is always terrific and they always entertain. The highlight of my trip was a visit to Silver Falls state park.

Winding paths took us behind waterfalls and through a lush green forest, trees glistening with damp moss. Recent storms had downed huge trees, roots ripped from the ground with alarming ease. While this closed a path, limiting our hike, it also reminded of the ongoing tumult in nature, forests constantly growing and dying, to grow again.

More pictures to come.

that time again

People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.
-Rogers Hornsby

Winter’s end nears, and while not yet here, the three words "pitchers and catchers" signal its soon demise. And as those words promise baseball’s arrival, they also tell of longer days, warmer nights and another season to try again.

Hooray.

the buzzing of the lamb

My second week in Philadelphia I have settled in to a hotel with modest cooking equipment including a two-burner electric stove. Overambitious, I picked up some lamb tips from Trader Joes and returned to my room to make dinner.

Limitations of the provided cookware aside, I question the wisdom of providing cooking facilities in poorly ventilated hotel rooms. Within minutes of applying heat and lamb to the pan, the smoke overwhelmed the pathetic range hood. Realizing this, I tried hastily to abandon my plans, plunging the lamb and pan into the sink, but to no avail, as the smoke alarm began its horrible bleating above.

Hotel staff seemed accustomed to this, swiftly arriving at my room and disabling the siren. Happily the alarm for a little smoke in the room is separate from the evacuation alarm and the sprinklers and the only outcome was some mildly annoyed neighbors. Returning to my soggy lamb, I’ve decided braising to be the best form of cooking available to me, and indeed finished as such the lamb was more than palatable.

deployment haiku

Moments before flight:
A pause, thrust, and now off to:
Philadelphia.

Live in St. Paul: John Edwards

Braving sub-zero temperatures, Mollie and I drove to St. Paul to see John Edwards speak at the Carpenters Union Hall. He spoke for about 15 minutes, covering the same themes that have earned my support these past two primary cycles -- poverty and inequality, restoring America's moral authority in the word, and universal health care.

The crowd was enthusiastic, though as Edwards repeatedly assailed a health insurance CEO for an exorbitant salary, I mockingly said, "Let's get him!" This is the difficulty with Edwards populist message. He at times relies on creating an enemy out of wealth rather than a rigged economic system.

I hoped Edwards would stress his electability more, it's his strongest argument at this late stage. But my criticisms of his appearance are largely because I've watched his ralies and speeches on the internet, so the material was too well worn to be truly inspirational. That it was Sen. Edwards' third state, having begun the day in Oklahoma didn't help his performance, which I'd say was average, improved by his natural magnetism and clear passion for his subject.

Certainly I intend to support him in the caucus on Tuesday, though I'd welcome a chance to see Sens. Obama or Clinton as well.

and we're back

A gentle hum, warm air flowing through my vents and the power has been restored. Credit Xcel with a rapid response, 42 minutes by my count.

blackout blogging

The temperature is -10. And moments after arriving home from a John Edwards event in St. Paul, the electricity in my home and throughout my block shut off.

Xcel Energy estimates four hours until power will be restored. But having an excess of technology is valuable in these moments, and surrounded by candles and a decending temperature I blog.

they're alive

Clams prepare simply, with wine and garlic, but as they are alive before cooking, they deserve special treatment. To ensure all the clams open properly and taste delicious, I played some Neutral Milk Hotel for them. After all, if nothing else, at least the clams got to hear some tremendous music once before their garlicky demise.

Whether it was the tunes or the clams natural goodness, they sure were tasty:

2007 in music

However late, here’s a quick mention of my favorite albums of 2007:

• Cloud Cult - The Meaning of 8
  
• Explosions in the Sky - All of the Sudeen I Miss Everyone
  
• Okkervil River - The Stage Names

The above three are standouts, the below three, excellent but likely not as lasting:

• Au Revoir Simone - The Bird of Music
  
• Bishop Allen - The Broken String
  
• alaska in winter - Dance Party in the Balkans

2007 in review

Soon-ish a quick rundown of the year's best music, but now, a snapshot of the year past:

States are colored based on my total duration of visit or visits. The redder the state the longer I visited. Light gray states were visited but not slept in. All told:

• Another year with more than 30,000 miles flown.
  
• MSP-LAX-PDX-MSP MSP-MGM-DCA-MGM-MSP MSP-AMS-FCO-AMS-MSP MSP-CRW-MSP MSP-BDL-MHT-MSP MSP-PDX-MSP MSP-DFW-ACT-MSP MSP-ORD-MSP MSP-PDX-MSP MSP-DCA-MSP
  
• Having a home matters, this year I spent more than half my time in Minneapolis.
  
• This year's tally includes overnights in eleven states, DC and four countries (outside the U.S.) and visits to six other states.
  
• I remained stationary for just two months: January and November.
  

ravioli-ing

Despite my general loathing of Christmas, it is an excellent chance to cook, and in quantity. With the painting done (and glorious), a ravioli project was in order.

With fresh pasta sheets from Broders and a variety of fillings, most important the above beet and goat cheese yielded more than 125 ravioli. They freeze well, cook simply and taste terrific:

nearing the end of the (painted) road

Difficult to discern, the trim and windows have been painted, and the arch coated with a darker shade. But a few touch-ups remain and tomorrow the room should be restored to a new, higher glory.

big sky country

Gold and white hills ebb off to the horizon, drying grass dusted with snow. Another farmhouse specks the landscape near the horizon. Removed from the convenient distractions of my techno-urban life it is too easy and cliché to fall into the seductive notion of the better, simpler life of rural America. And while I’ve done little but read and relax, the lives of the ranchers here is anything but easy, and far from simple. Of course to write of the hardship of farm life is just as cliché, but one more honest.
As I stare out the window over morning coffee, a rancher deftly grabs bales of hay with his tractor, dumping them into a bin that chops and mixes his cows’ lunch. He does this with the effortlessness of years of repetition on mornings just as this.
For me the hardship is not one of labor, but of the absence of technology. Just two days without Internet access leaves me struggling with my phone to connect however briefly to a world I have not left in years. Despite having no obligations, being so cut off is difficult, oddly stressful and I’m eager for the train ride home where I can again gorge myself on information.
So while some dream wistfully of a life, of a place without the technology and connectivity of modern life, I will return home more astonished by the marvel of progress, and grateful for its abundance and ubiquity in my life.

on a westbound train

Late tonight I boarded a train bound for points west. My destination is a small town in Eastern Montana, though I’m more eager for the 12 hour train ride than the destination.

Shame train transport is not more popular. The train station lacked the panic and fear that permeates the airport. There were no armed guards warily eyeing passengers, no Homeland Security employees demanding a disrobing, just a ticket-taker directing me to my berth on board.

The train itself is a terrific experience in first class, each room with two seats that convert into bunk beds. Not the most comfortable of either, both still outclass airplanes in comfort and roominess. Most important, the train is not so confining as the plane. The passengers are less anxious, with room to spread out and lengths of cars to roam.

If only trains were faster, cheaper and more reliable. Until then, air travel will still dominate, a cost to our sanity and civility.

painting week: monday

A second coat of paint up throughout the living room and painting week concludes. While there remains touch up work in the living room, as well as the trim, seven consecutive days of effort are my maximum output.

With the brown paint up and more evenly applied, the room is close to complete and I am quite pleased with the general effect. I expect this effect to be magnified once the trim is painted, and I am eager to have my home returned to normal. That will wait, as I’m out of town for the remainder of the week, pleased with the progress already made.

painting week: sunday

First the blue in the alcove went up. I'm happy with the color, though I wish it were a shade lighter to better set off from the darker blue arch.

With the sun still out, we forged ahead and opened the brown paint. After the first coat, my walls are a dark, rich brown. At least one more coat is necessary, but I'm confident in a successful result.

painting week: saturday

A few touch ups and the bathroom is finished. A lazy day, just that and a third coat of blue on a single wall are the total output for the day. So tomorrow the lighter shade of blue will be applied, and perhaps even a coat of the brown.

painting week: friday

Another productive day, with two coats applied in the living room to the east wall and the arch and a second, final coat in the bathroom. Tomorrow a first coat of light blue on some living room walls will go up. I'll likely touch up in the bathroom as well, and perhaps even figure out how to take a good picture of the results.

painting week: thursday

A day of effort with much aid from a mini-roller expert and the first coat of paint is up in the bathroom. It looks splendid, and a second coat tomorrow should more or less finish the job.

The living room trim is now well-primed after another coat and a half. Tomorrow we color the living room and finish the bathroom. Onward!

painting week: wednesday

A day of priming done and for the first time my living room walls are free of children's scrawls. The bathroom, freshly whitened now lacks some of its more disturbing stains. Of course now guests will no longer troublingly wonder just what could make such a mess so close to the toilet.

Tomorrow the living room trim will get a second coat of primer, a better foundation for the lightly colored paint. More dramatically the bathroom will get its first coat of color, as might some of the living room walls.

painting week: tuesday

Eleven months after moving in, I'm finally preparing to paint my living room. For eleven months I've suffered with the scratches and scrawls of ill-behaved children, the marker and ballpoint marring and scarring my walls. Tomorrow that will all change.

Having moved the living room's contents into the dining room, today I repaired the myriad cracks in the plaster walls, and scuffed the baseboards and molding so they will better take their new coatings. The endless meandering pen marks all over the wall were a challenge to differentiate from actual cracks in the wall, and tomorrow we'll find out just how I did. I only hope the stain-blocking primer is true to its name.

a meal concluded

In keeping with a Thanksgiving tradition of me posing oddly with turkeys, above is the finished turkey. After 12 hours in a brine, wrestling with me for 45 minutes (I am a poor trusser), and two and a half hours in the oven, the bird was juicy and flavorful. Carving was a bit dicey, though I did well with the breasts, the thighs were pretty well mangled.

I failed to shoot any photos of the myriad side dishes brought by my friends. It was all pretty magnificent and the whole event was a quality effort by all.
Somehow, less than an hour after my guests have left, the dishes are done. These represent about eight percent of the total mass of dishes:

Remaining:

• 1/2 Pumpkin cheesecake
  
• 1/2 Apple pie
  
• 14 c mashed potatoes
  
• 3.25 lbs. turkey
  
• 1 c roast squash
  
• 5 Brussel sprouts
  
• 1.3 loaves of bread
  
• 4 c stuffing

Leftovers, anyone?

twas the night before Thanksgiving...

With the cheesecake and bread both out of the oven, and the turkey swimming happily in the brine, my evening's work is done. Tomorrow, I'll roast a turkey, make some mashed potatoes, more bread, salad, and then people will come over with more food and wine and we'll eat and drink. Merriment is also likely.