Archive for July 2009
maybe the rich are paying enough taxes
From Perot Charts
People in my income bracket don’t seem to be carrying much of the load.
batteries are a PAIN
Click PLAY or watch an excellent David Pogue rant on YouTube.
bailouts … apologies to Ayn Rand
The Sound of Music
Traveling in Austria, it’s impossible to avoid Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music, the 1965 musical. I saw it the other day at a hostel.
The film won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director (Robert Wise) and Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Julie Andrews).
Well deserved.
Click PLAY or watch the original trailer on YouTube.
Christopher Plummer as Captain Baron von Trapp is commanding. A great and believable performance. I’d forgotten how good he was.
The plot, acting and even the music hold up really well. Even in 2009.
Fact is it’s the third on the list of all-time inflation-adjusted box office hits, behind Gone with the Wind and Star Wars.
The movie is virtually unknown in Germany and Austria. Those Austrians that have seen it, think it’s bunk. Brits playing Austrians? What’s next? Sacha Baron Cohen playing an Austrian?
is BING any good?
Have you tried Microsoft’s newest search engine?
Click PLAY or watch a review by David Pogue on YouTube.
It is pretty good.
Still … compare the RESULTS of a search on a topic in which you are expert. Google vs Bing.
Google’s results are still far more accurate.
I rule my world
Seas rise when I give the word …
The mountains on a sunny day are a paradise. I’m enjoying the moment.
This is perhaps the most content I’ve been in a long, long time.
I know. One day I’ll sweep the streets I used to own.
… my castles stand
upon pillars of salt
and pillars of sand …
But for now. Let’s live in the moment.
I heard the most charming interview with Mr. Gwyneth Paltrow, Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay. It’s posted on a 60 Minutes audiocast (click to listen).
I certainly appreciate Chris Martin and the band a lot more now.
Click PLAY to watch the video for Viva La Vida on YouTube. It was the Grammy Song of the Year for 2009.
quick stopover in Saltzburg
Broke my rule not to travel on a weekend …
Ended up staying in charming Saltzburg for a night en route to Grossglockner.
Hikes are finally starting to be posted on my hiking blog.
The Tent – Munich
Finally found some free internet.
Cool hostel / campground.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
It’s called The Tent.
all’s well in Italy …
The Dolomite mountains in northern Italy are FANTASTIC.
Trip reports coming soon to my hiking blog.
Actually, I’m writing from Munich. En route to some great hiking in the Austrian Alps.
FINALLY found some free WiFi internet access.
why I can’t live in the Maritimes … or Italy
Much as I like Halifax, living in the Maritimes is a non-starter for me. (Sorry Anne.)
Why?
Too many smokers.
It’s disgusting.
As I toured Nova Scotia, one Tim Hortons to the next, I had to push my way through nicotine addicts lurking at each entrance. Yeesh.
Why can’t those Maritimers go work their short-term Summer jobs as mandated by pogie?
I fled the second hand smoke for Italy.
Doh!
Italy is even WORSE. (Remind me not to travel to Cuba.)
And why am I even in Italy? I’m one of the few people you know who doesn’t want to travel in Italy. It’s the last place I wanted to go … last except for the land of the cheese-eating surrender monkeys.
My Mom reminded me of my only other trip to Italy, over 30yrs ago. I wrote her this on a postcard:
… “Italy is Great…too bad it is run by Italians” …
Italian men back in 1976 were totally irritating.
Happily I can report they’ve improved over the past few decades.
In fact, it seems the young Italian men have collectively opted into a 1980s George Michael look-alike contest. Pretty funny. I don’t speak Italian, but I’d estimate at least 6 million young men, so far, have voluntarily joined into this amusing competition.
It’s great to see that those (formerly) arrogant pricks are now able to laugh at themselves.
The detested Italian machismo seems to be fading.
Of course I’m in Italy for hiking. It was a complete surprise to me. One minute I was searching the internet for cheap flights to Iceland. The next I’d bought a $100 ticket Gatwick to Venice.
Here I am in Bolzano, no guidebook. It’s like the blind leading … myself.
Fortunately 6 of my 10 words of Italian from the distant past have returned to me.
Oh, … I should add that there are only 2 good smokers in the World. And one of them is trying to quit.
