For Mother Nancy

Sorry about the delay! Here is Ray Lamontagne who's music I have been a fan of for the last couple of years. He doesn't get a lot of play time but he is quite a good singer songwriter.

The Bourne Disappearance

As the charade that is the Zimbabwe elections now enters the "counting" phase I have one question...where is Jason Bourne? Mugabe has proven himself to be nothing more than a junkyard dog ready to rip the flesh from anyone he deems an intruder into his world of power and money. There are nearly constant news images of opposition supporters who have been tortured or slaughtered for having the courage to stand up for democracy and yet the West has done nothing. Gordon Brown has threatened to ban the Zimbabwe cricket team from play in Britain and has had talks with Tesco, a major food chain, to stop selling to the country demonstrating the stark contrast with his predecessor's action over talk policies. The U.S. is no doubt caught in a catch 22over the international anti-violence/anti-action stance all the while calling on America to "do something." I want to know where Jason Bourne has been all these months. Surely Mugabe can simply have an accident or be killed by a member of his own staff right? So Jason if you're listening, the people of Zimbabwe need you.

Song(s) of the Week

This song of the week is more like artist of the week, but there are 2 artists. Really it's just play whatever I want of the week. As you know we saw Clapton last weekend (awesome!) so here are a couple of songs he played as tribute to that great event. Also included are 2 songs off the new Augustana album. I really like these guys as they fit neatly into my taste of solemn pseudo-indi rock or something like that. They have a good sound. You can preview their entire album on their website here and if you order on iTunes you get a free acoustic version of Sweet and Low.

Age old problem

I'm under the impression that I've hit another milestone (30 years on Earth) and since I've looked 30 for some time now and I'll probably never act it, I figure now is as good a time as any. I think middle age is now 40 so at least I'm not included in that label yet but I will admit that I already miss being 20 something. This is turning out to be quite an event over here though. My boss took us out to eat at a restaurant her nephew is the head chef at and included are some crude cell phone pictures we took. Mine is a rib eye with ox cheek won-tons, mashed potatoes and breaded broccoli. I had a tomato salad with rare South American tomatoes that are only produced by some Dutch company now. Dana had a stuffed chicken with sweet potatoes. The desert picture is of a pineapple parfait with a sort of honey lace decor on top of it. I actually tried black pudding and sting ray. I can now turn down black pudding as an experienced taster but the ray was surprisingly good. It was quality and presentation rolled into one. Felicimo!

Dana has gotten me amongst many other things, a trip to Portugal to watch one of the Portugal World Cup qualifying games at the end of the summer and a chance to see one of the world's best players Cristiano Ronaldo in person! We planned for my birthday some time ago to see Eric Clapton who played last night at Malahide Castle. The weather was menacing for the first part of the night but cleared to make a beautiful evening. Clapton mixed some classics in with his new songs and it was a pleasure to watch one of the music legends live. Here is another very crude phone video which won't do it justice.


Thanks to everyone for their cards and gifts. I only wish that I could have received them in person.

For my one and only

I've counted and we've been to 8 countries in the 10 months we've been here. That's not too bad! We've seen Edinburgh castle, the Colosseum, Eiffel Tower and Big Ben to name a few of the great sites. I've come to believe that what makes it all special is not where I've been and what I've seen but who I was able to share it with. All of these places have been unforgettable and what has made it so is my travel partner. So I wanted to pay her a little tribute and thank her for sharing this great adventure with me...plus tell her I love her along the way.

Turks!

We've been back from Turkey a few days now and after processing the trip and trying to tell everyone how my holiday was I think I've figured out what the trip was all about. I originally wanted to go to Greece this summer as a birthday gift to myself but after deliberation and concurrence with Ryan and Yunuen we decided on Western Turkey. I have to admit that I didn't know much about what I was getting into and I was a little scared of being an American in a predominantly Muslim country.

Kusadasi is a tourist town for lack of a better description on the West coast. It is near to a number of the ancient cities such as Ephesus, Didyma and Priene to name a few. While in town you are accosted by shop workers trying anything (especially the question, "where you from?") to start a conversation with you and get you into their stores. We talked to a few Turks who explained the situation to us which is basically that they work in Kusadasi for 6 months during "high" season around 15 hours/day, 7 days/week. Once you get the hang of just walking down the street you get a chance to talk to a few of them. Yusuf is the owner of a hookah bar near the bus pick up in town that we spent almost every night with. He was one of the nicest people we met, always with a smile and he even put American service to shame. Med was another young man who worked at our hotel and had brain teasers for us every time we saw him. Yunuen jokingly said we have more friends in Turkey than in Ireland and sadly, at least for a week, that was true.

We saw a number of great sites, my favorite being the library at Ephesus. We spent time on the beach and even took a boat cruise for a day. Really the trip meant a lot to me for several reasons. Obviously having Ryan and Yunuen along made it a lot more fun. Ryan and I smoked more cigars that week than I had the six months prior! I also learned to be weary of presuppositions about other people. The Turks were some of the friendlies most welcoming people we've met and I would have never gone if my travel companions hadn't wanted to go. That would have been a shame on a number of levels, but mostly because I wouldn't have learned this one valuable lesson. Surely Eastern Turkey would have been a different experience (or so I assume)...well, I guess it's a lesson that I'm "learning."

Song of the Week

This is turning into more like the song of the month so I'll try to be more consistent. The Kaiser Chiefs are probably over played now in the States but it is still a fun song to listen to.

Ruby

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