The day people light things on fire, and blame it on loving their country.
police officer: hey, you kids, that type of fireworks is illegal!
kid: dude, its the fourth of july. just showing some love for my country.
police officer: oh. in that case. toss me an m-80.
I remember how hot it was in Thailand… Things are nice and cool here in Montana - especially at night. I was going through a few old photos last night and wanted to put them up here…. not that I am in Thailand now, but these struck me, so I wanted to post them!
MEXICO CITY - Rain may ruin a parade, but it won’t ruin a press conference - at least not for John McCain.
The Republican U.S. presidential candidate closed up his short swing through Colombia and Mexico on Thursday with a “media avail” in a hangar, against a background of helicopters and fast police cars.
A media avail, for the uninitiated, is short for “availability” - another word for a news conference. And the Arizona senator likes to give them.
But Thursday’s had an unexpected glitch from Mother Nature: pouring rain pounded down on the hangar, drowning out the journalists’ questions and the senator’s answers.
So he paused to wait it out. But there were schedules to keep, and once it seemed clear the clouds were not closing up soon, McCain motioned for the journalists to move up close to the raised platform where he stood.
So they did - sitting on the floor and tossing questions upward, which McCain answered over the noise. Odd venue or not, he didn’t make a lot of news, commenting on drug trafficking and a recent shake-up in his campaign staff.
Asked for his take on the campfire-like scene, McCain said it was “certain the most unusual” press conference he had ever held.
Photo credit: Reuters/Daniel Aguilar. Arizona Sen. John McCain and his wife Cindy smile during a press conference in Mexico City.
One of ddoi's visitors sent me an email a long time ago telling about the thinnest house in Toronto. After years I went and found it, or at least I think I did. So thank you for your tip.
Taken on Shuter street.
Smaller version on flickr.
Frequent readers of Travel Betty don’t need reminding how much I love No Reservations
But why?
Well, Anthony isn’t your typical perky bland travel host pointing out obvious choices and trying to make foreign travel look sanitized for your protection.
He gets grouchy (Jamaican spelunking episode). He takes risks (Icelandic picnic, anyone?). And he will literally put any ol’ shit in his mouth (Namibian oh-so-slightly-fire-roasted pig sphincter).
That last one Travel Boyfriend and I STILL reference. Our most recent exchange during an exceptionally delicious tapas dinner in Spain three weeks ago:
Travel Betty: Mmmmm, life is good. To think there are people right now eating wild boar anus.
Travel Boyfriend: Or Denny’s.
But now it’s a whole new season! Bourdain is off to Travel Betty favorites like Egypt (exotic locale of my and TB’s engagement!), Spain, and slow-paced, soul-lifting Laos.
He’ll also be traveling to some Travel Betty dream-abouts like Tokyo and Uruguay (the latter hopefully included in our Buenos Aires honeymoon this fall).
Columbia and Saudi Arabia represent too.
My only beef? Why still no San Francisco, Tony? C’mon, let me take you to Burma Superstar!
So, if you’re like me and need a quick hit of snark before the long holiday weekend, take a look at this sneak preview clip of the new season. Hopefully it’ll hold you over until Monday.
The Fourth of July isn’t a holiday in Italy, but that doesn’t stop this American from celebrating with hamburgers, hot dogs and mmm, maybe even some apple pie (Mom’s here, remember?!).
To my fellow Americans, I wish you a happy, safe and fun holiday
and buon weekend a tutti!
Glamocracy: McRick Rolled
Jezebel: Crappy Hour
Jezebel: Writer: Little Girls Are A Threat To HuManity
Jezebel: My Sexual Assault Is Not Your Political Issue
Jezebel: Beatrice Birra
i'm "babysitting" which is basically me sitting on my friend's couch while her kiddo sleeps in the next room. i'm watching a henry darger documentary and fighting off sleep, i'm so relaxed on this couch, listening to the trees rustle outside.
Wow. This is surreal. Apparently there was this cable access show out of Dearborn, Michigan called Back Porch Video. Kids would show videos, do interviews at shows, etc. It's actually quite charming although the wardrobe and hairstyles are a painful reminder of the era of Miami Vice and John Hughes' movies.
Anyway, there's a treasure trove of obscure, and should-have been obscure, videos on the <ahref=http://www.youtube.com/user/backporchvideos">Back Porch Video</a> Youtube channel.
we shall scratch dem on teh sofas, we shall scratch dem in teh gardens, we shall nebur surrendur!
until we gits caught nd put in jayl.
picture: dunno source, via our lolcat builder. lol caption: lobs2
The good news is that I was terrified that I'd end up fighting with my stepmother and in fact we never fought at all and I have to say she was amazingly wonderful. Apparently they've changed her medication and it has done her a world of good.
Unfortunately I had no idea that my parents were bringing the Onceler with them.
This was a dude who - I am not fucking making this up - was bragging that he likes the Iraq and Afghan war because he makes artificial limbs and during times of war the demand for fake legs and arms are high.
This dude implied at one point that I was immoral for writing porn.
Anyway, most of the trip was good. Monday we hung in town and had a nice diner. On Tuesday we went to Palavas and had a nice day at the beach.
They wanted to go to Spain yesterday but the truckers held a strike where they shut down the highway between here and espagne.
So, instead we went to Aigues Mortes, which is a really nice walled city. The Iceman and the Non Jewish Carpenter met us there because they were doing some work in the region.
We had a great time and introduced them to Get 47 which is a regional after dinner drink. The Iceman offered to pay for everyone's meal but my mom wouldn't hear of it and insisted on paying.
I should note that while I went into my pocket to try to pay for my share, the Onceler didn't.
We then went back to Palavas where the two couples necked two bottles of wine in about ten minutes, making me terrified since I had to ride home with them.
They got us back into town safely and met up with Rome Girl and we decided to go to a vietnamese restaurant, because the Onceler had said that he'd heard that vietnamese restaurants are good in France.
It was there when I came out of the bathroom and my mom asked me to check on dad because he'd been outside for a while. I went out and he went on a long rant about how he wanted to slit my mom's throat and/or stab her in her sleep.
I then walked him back to the hotel, where he promptly passed out.
By the time I got back I'd mostly missed my meal and then when my mom went to pay they told her that their card processing system was down. So, my mom gave me her card and her pin number and I walked roughly a block in order to get the money out.
While I was gone the Onceler got into Miss Darling's face saying "Why don't you just fucking go home?"
I wish I'd known that at the time, because there are three people you can not fuck with as far as I'm concerned:
1. Rome Girl
2. Trixee
3. Miss Darling
If I'd known I would have broken the Onceler's nose. But this is the shit you find out later.
Instead he just gave me a huge load of shit telling me that as his "host" I should have paid for his meals instead of my parents paying for his meals.
The fucker is lucky that Rome Girl was standing next to me, because if I wasn't worried about embarrassing her I would have picked up a chair or table and broken it over his head. And that would have been just the beginning.
I didn't invite this fuckwit to Montpellier and if my mom wants to buy me dinner that's not his fucking business. Beyond that he never fucking went into his pocket this week. And, I ended up paying for him and his wife to explore the walled castle in aigues morte because they "forgot" to take money out. And my parents kept buying them meals and drinks for similar reasons. In fact it was Rome Girl and I who paid most of the tips everywhere we went, even though we kept saying to the Onceler "you should tip."
His response was "we'll never be back here, so why bother?"
This afternoon I was very tempted (knowing their flight number since they made me confirm their reservations) to make an annoymous call and describe him as a drug exporter, just to make him have to go through a body cavity search.
Rome Girl talked me out of this, but I will find a way to fuck this war profiteer somehow.
That said, my parents were great in the sense that this is the first time I've spent this much time with them in years without a fight happening between me and them.
And my step mom was a real lady.
The GOP crime wave has bankrupted America, destroyed Iraq’s economy and infrastructure and now apparently menaces even San Bernardino, California as, county prosecutors allege, Republican operatives have co-opted the San Bernardino County assessor’s office and turned into part of the local GOP campaign machine, hiring phalanxes of goons to spend all their time on the office phones and computers chasing contributions.
Prosecutors are apparently circling in for the kill, putting the cuffs on one of the alleged GOP bag men allegedly employed by the assessor’s office, Adam Aleman [above], and charging him with six felonies, including presenting false evidence to a county grand jury and destroying public records, according to the Associated Press.
It’s a smart move on the prosecutor’s part. Aleman was not only an allegedly hack hire, he was the executive director of the county Republican Party syndicate when his boss, county Assessor Bill Postmus [above] was its chair. In the end, the District Attorney’s office could track this back to the very heart of the San Bernardino Republican crime plexus.
[AP] San Bernardino assessor’s employee arrested
See more original content from The Cynics' Party
Republican Crime Wave Engulfs The San Bernardino Assessor’s Office
I don’t even know his last name
it nawt mai furst tiem either.
picture: eilatan. lol caption: Erich Treeby
HAMSTER BUTT!
Lori W., You're two for two on this one with both photo AND caption!
(VENICE, ITALY) Yesterday, I had the privilege to be invited to a press conference at Palazzo Balbi by the Giorgio Cini Foundation and the Veneto Region. Eleonora Duse -- that fascinating woman -- will be the subject of a celebration this fall in honor of her birth, 150 years ago.
Thanks to the Academy Awards, the general public is now familiar with the French singer, Edith Piaf. Long before there were movie stars in Hollywood, here in Europe, there were many women who lived their lives with passion and dare. Eleonora Duse was a giant among them.
First, a brief blurb about the Giorgio Cini Foundation. To give you a hint of the scope of this foundation, before there was G8, there was G7, and twice the meeting was held at the Cini Foundation, in 1980 and 1987. Located on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, Count Vittorio Cini created the foundation in memory of his son Giorgio, who died in a plane crash. We cannot know the depth of his grief, but we are fortunate that he had the strength of character to spin straw into gold and leave this treasure to mankind, an oasis for enlightened thinkers. I am for anything that allows one the freedom to use one's mind -- to agree or disagree without blindly following, or being forced into an opinion. And they are devoted to Vivaldi!
So, if the Cini Foundation, together with the Region of Venice (the Region is sort of like a county in the States, and the Veneto Region happens to be one of the most powerful in the land) decide to focus the spotlight on Eleonra Duse, it is impressive.
Since I drift in and out at press conferences, especially when they are in Italian, I started thinking about the energy of a woman like Eleonora Duse, born into a family of poor actors, who became so powerful that we are celebrating her birth 150 years later. She was a Star on Earth, and she did burn some ordinary mortals. Perhaps it takes us 150 years to examine such energy. Perhaps the Light is too bright. Still it shines, still it shines. We can only imagine the wattage we would encounter if we had met her while she was alive. Washington, D.C. itself got a shock when President Cleveland's wife invited Eleonora, an actress, for tea.When she was 21-years-old, she had an intense love affair with a journalist who left her while she was pregnant. The baby died before birth, and soon after, so did he...
I'll let you do some research on your own, but her most famous love affair was, of course, with Gabriele d'Annunzio. D'Annunzio is a household name here in Italy, but I would imagine that many of you in America don't know who he is. Well, I HAVE BEEN TO HIS HOUSE on Lake Garda, and it is one of the most incredible villas on this planet. In fact, it's been a lifelong dream of mine to fashion an apartment inspired by d'Annunzio -- I am wild for his bathroom with the blue tub.
Wikipedia describes d'Annunzio as an Italian poet, journalist, novelist, dramatist, and daredevil. One of my favorite rooms in his house was his office. It has a low doorway, so you must bow your head to enter. Over the door is etched: Hoc opus, hic labor est: "This is the work, here is the working." On his shelf is the head of Eleonora Duse, "the veiled witness," which he would cover with a veil before he began to work. Eleonora Duse and Gabriele d'Annunzio also caused some commotion here in Venice, among other venues.
When he wrote a play and gave the lead to her rival, Sarah Bernhardt, not Eleonora, she left him. And would you blame her? It sounds quite cruel to me, and quite typical of the male character that still cannot seem to merge the image of the Madonna into something more realistic. Well, I suppose we women are just as bad when it comes to our image of the male Knight in Shining Armor. It makes you wonder... because Eleonora really seemed to be Madonna-like, and you could not get a greater Knight in Shining Armor than d'Annuzio... In any event, Duse and d'Annunzio are archetypes of human beings who really existed not so long ago, who really loved each other, and who we still recognize and celebrate. They left us many, many gifts, and that is why we are fortunate that the Cini Foundation and the Veneto are sponsoring this tribute, which will begin in September and focus during October 1-4, and include letters, film, an a theatrical production put on by the Goldoni Theater (another one of my favorite organizations), among other events. Now you are aware:). More details to come.
Ciao from Venice,
Cat
P.S. I just can't resist adding an aerial view of the Vittoriale, d'Annunzio's house.
And this is the result. Twigs, leaves, logs, rubbish and anything else that the river finds in its path is washed into the sea and drifts around in the currents, making swimming impossible. It seems ironic that Positano was recently awarded the Bandiera Blu for clean waters. Where did they test the water? In somebodys bathroom perhaps?
This is what washed into the cove at Laurito today:
Disgusted, but desperate for a swim I took the canoe out in search of clean water. I paddled about 50 metres around the corner, and found crystal clear water:
Positano has a small pedalo boat with an outboard motor that is dedicated to scooping rubbish out of the sea. Not really very effective, but better than nothing. Today they really had their work cut out. Here they are pullihg in, loaded with bags of rubbish at the end of the day:
Where to catch the fireworks in NYC [Metromix]
Tighter immigration laws means England may not be known for Indian food for long [Jaunted]
Crisis psychologists to counsel Naples on its trash problem [Spiegel]
Bedford Avenue to be car free for 4 days, hipsters rejoice [Gothamist]
Oregon man to attempt 4th of July flight in law chair flown by balloons [MSNBC]
Finding a bit of Australia in Sonoma, California [NYT]
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urbanwordofday : fourth of july [+0] - stck_in_customs : Hot in Thailand… [+0]
- trail08 : No rain on McCain’s parade during wet Mexican press conference [+0]
- top_left_pixel : thin house [+0]
- travelbetty : Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations Returns Monday July 7th [+0]
- bleedespresso : happy fourth of july! [+0]
- lavitaraggiante : (no subject) [+0]
- xkcd_rss : I Am Not Good with Boomerangs [+70]
- chaoticmegan : Day of the Vicious Migraine [+0]
- horror_romance : day 184: i give up. [+1]
- alanpartlow : Eighties Kids [+0]
- icanhaschzbrgr : we shall scratch dem on teh sofas, [+0]
- bart_calendar : The Overview Of The Week [+16]
- cynicsparty : Republican Crime Wave Engulfs The San Bernardino Assessor’s Office [+0]
- icanhaschzbrgr : I don’t even know his last name [+0]
- cuteoverload : Guess what!? [+2]
- venetiancatrss : Eleonora Duse 1858-2008 - Venice [+0]
- mcsweeneysrss : dispatches from roy kesey, an american guy married to a peruvian diplomat living in china {3rightgoo [+0]
- nikinpos : (no subject) [+0]
- gridskipper1 : Jetcetera: Happy Independence Day! [+0]