Brilliance
Written by David on September 4th, 2008I know this is being posted everywhere, but in case you missed it, here you go. Breathtaking hypocrisy, captured as only The Daily Show can do it:
View from the Back Seat
Written by David on August 13th, 2008A 1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass (I know the year because it had ‘67 Texas plates) pulled into the grocery store parking lot just ahead of me on Sunday. The square contours of its sheet metal body were familiar–I briefly wondered why and then remembered our family car was that same boxy model (but not a cool 442 like this one), back when I was seven or eight years old.
We didn’t keep that car very long and in 1969 Daddy bought a more comfortable and luxurious Ford Galaxie 500, the car that would see me and my sister through high school and college. May it rest in peace wherever it lies.
The Galaxie 500, with Me and Joe the Wonder Dog
Seeing a car from that era set me reminiscing about our long family road trips to see Grandma and Grandpa. They lived 300 miles away and the drive to visit them was often an interminable journey through the dreary Texas landscape around Christmas and New Year’s.
My father was not one to get an early start. We did not get up at the crack of dawn to race across the state before nightfall; consequently I spent a lot of time staring at the silhouette of the back of his head against the green dashboard glow. We’d start in the afternoon and make slow progress as the light failed, and I’d sit back and watch whatever there was to see through my small side window. The telephone lines as they sagged down, down, down, then rose up, up, up to the next pole, then down again…roadhouses with bright LIQUOR signs, their garish neon colors running together in puddles of rainwater…residences festooned with Christmas lights and plastic snowmen…small town main street department stores decorated for the holidays.
The Story So Far…
Written by David on August 13th, 2008OK, the Orwell diary isn’t yet terribly electrifying. From August 11:
This morning all surfaces, even indoors, damp as a result of mist. A curious deposit all over my snuff-box, evidently residue of moisture acting on lacquer.
Ha ha. Still, it promises to be a glimpse into a mind I very much admire and I will read each installment. If for nothing else, then to monitor the condition of the snuff-box.
Diaries Still Not Illegal
Written by David on August 5th, 2008
I really do love the Internets. Coming soon (August 9): George Orwell’s diaries posted as blog entries!
A great quotation from Orwell’s description of Dickens:
a…liberal, free intelligence, a type hated with equal hatred by all the smelly little orthodoxies which are now contending for our souls.
Greetings!
Written by David on August 4th, 2008I’ll be awhile getting used to my spacious new digs here, figuring out what’s what. In terms of blog software, I’ve gone from a 1978 Chevy Vega to a 2008 Lexus.
I’m posting some of my old blog’s entries here as time permits. This is a tedious manual process–my own fault for using an oddball blog system all this time.
The new system (WordPress) has no way to import my old writings automatically…it chokes on the profound wisdom, and on some impossible reminiscences not even a computer can swallow with impunity. Nevertheless the old entries will gradually appear in the appropriate places, so long as I remember to set the dates correctly. I’m starting with the Scandinavian trip diary.
Rovaniemi at Midsummer
Written by David on July 14th, 2008We left Kuopio and headed for the city of Rovaniemi, the “Gateway to Lapland.” More about the Lapps later, the indigenous people of the area. (They don’t like the word “Lapp” though. I gather it’s kind of like calling an American Indian a “redskin.” The preferred term is Saami, and we had quite a Saami experience on day 9, about which more later.)
That part of Finland is flat and covered with small lakes, thousands of them. If you keep an eye peeled you’ll see moose (yes, Scandinavia is home to the loveli lakes and the majestic moose) walking among the trees, and the reindeer are everywhere: They’re a stock animal like the cows in Texas, with tags in their ears. The Saami depend on them.
We stopped in Oulu (site of the annual Air Guitar World Championships) for lunch at a big market and enjoyed a newspaper cone of fried “bait fish.” These were tasty handfuls of fried, minnow-sized fish. With some malt vinegar they were quite good. Funny thing, I had ordered it and was paying for it before I even knew it was happening. I know I never asked; the guy just congratulated me on my choice, scooped it out, handed it to me, and requested some number of euros. Those folks know how to handle a busload of tourists.
World War II Monument in Rovaniemi Cemetery. 90% of the town was destroyed by the Germans.
Eat Food: Not Too Much, Mostly Plants
Written by David on May 7th, 2008The abundant advice we get from the food industry about their products’ health benefits is a load of hooey. The ads on TV would have us believe that the only things saving us from malnutrition and horrible disease are: 1) The latest scientific-sounding ingredients in breakfast cereal bars and other brightly packaged junk, and 2) pills, pills, pills.
Leaving aside the pharmaceuticals, what about those cheerfully labeled, “Heart Healthy” yogurt-in-a-plastic-cup things with anti-this and zero that and pro-the other? Garbage. The cereal boxes covered with health claims? That packaging is how General Mills gets you to pay $30 a pound for oats.
“But the American Heart Association stamp of approval is right there on the package!” The American Heart Association is paid a lot of money for those endorsements, just like Tiger Woods. It’s meaningless.
For something as basic as the food going into our bodies, we no longer turn to our culture (Mom) for advice, but instead to General Mills and Archer Daniels Midland. Or countless “experts” flooding the market with books about healthy diets. Think about it: For 3 million years humans did just fine deciding for themselves what went in their stomachs. Now all of a sudden we need reams of information and packaging labels concerning Omega-3 acids and trans-fats, beta-carotene and anti-oxidants. Who’s benefiting from our confusion?
Driving through Finland
Written by David on March 2nd, 2008We left Helsinki for Kuopio on the morning of June 21st. The weather was beautiful, and the bus was full of Austrailian and American chatter. We were quickly out of the big city and cruising through the green countryside dotted by what must be thousands of little lakes mirroring the brilliant blue sky. Finland is a sparkling green country that’s perhaps a little smaller than California, with just a few million residents. It’s a mostly wild and beautiful land.
Arvid the tour guide had got up on the wrong side of bed and after several attempts to narrate something about the area we were passing through, groused that he couldn’t talk if all of us were talking at the same time. “So I’ll just keep my mouth shut,” he said, then switched off his microphone and settled in his jumpseat for a bit of a sulk. Chastised, we were good schoolchildren for awhile and he warmed back to his subject, whatever it was.
Helsinki
Written by David on January 30th, 2008I was surprised to learn that Helsinki’s population is only about 500,000. It seems much bigger, because it’s packed into a small area, like San Francisco. Regardless of size it’s a world-class capital, cosmopolitan and modern.
Everywhere the streets were spotless and the shops were neat. The famous Scandinavian flair for design is evident everywhere, and not just in the Marimekko stores. There really is a Scandinavian style, which I’ll do my best to describe as clean lines, polished wood and brushed metal surfaces, and simple, elegant, organic design manifested in high quality construction. Everywhere we went the doors clicked closed with a satisfying precision, drawers slid silently shut, windows opened and closed with the slightest pressure.
Running down the center of Helsinki is a long open pedestrian boulevard called the “Esplanade.” It’s a tree-lined avenue surrounded by cafes, trendy boutiques, and galleries. We spent two delightful evenings wandering up and down this green public space admiring the sculpture, serenaded by street musicians, watching a trained dog act, stopping at a sidewalk cafe for coffee, grabbing an ice cream (the ice cream vendor warned me to walk with my cone tucked close to my chest, as the seagulls love to dive and steal unwary tourists’ treats). We both loved Helsinki the most of any city we visited in Scandinavia…and we loved them all. I could sit on a bench in that fair city all the 20-hour daylight in summer, just watching the people and soaking up the atmosphere of a hip European capital. Our verdict: Helsinki Rules!
Sculpture on Helsinki’s Esplanade.
Finland
Written by David on January 27th, 2008I intended to complete my Scandinavian journal long ago before the details began to fade, but I’ve been reluctant to sit at the computer after working all day on one of the damn things so I’ve left us adrift on the boat to Helsinki for months. Time to pick up with beautiful Finland, which was green and shining in the midsummer sun.
I can only imagine what it’s like now, crusted with ice and snow and no sun at all. I’m sure it’s beautiful in its own way, but I’m looking out my window now at a warm, sunny January day in Texas and I’m damn glad to be here.
On the sparkling morning of June 20, 2007 we arrived in Helsinki. A quick walk down the gangway and there was our trusty bus, which had made the trip with us in the ship’s hold. The bags were already on board and we headed to our hotel, excitedly chattering. Helsinki is a beautiful jewel of a city and we arrived on a perfect day: The sea air was clean and fragrant, and the skies were brilliant blue with gorgeous white clouds.