ryandobs

2009-11-26T12:55:00.001-08:00

Traded Her In For a New Model
Week 7-Month 3

So somewhere along the line, our little 5 lb. baby became a chubby little girl. It's interesting how weight works with kids, because somehow the chubbiness increases the cuteness by some sort of exponential relationship. Anyhow, on Thanksgiving Day, here are a few new pics of our little girl, for whom we are very, very thankful.

R: We're trying very hard to limit how much TV she watches. But just turn your back and she hops up on the couch, turns on the TV, and starts watching CNN. She's got a lot to catch up on.

R: First beach day ever.

R: Post-bath curly hair. So far she hasn't seen a light she doesn't love to stare at.

Cosi went to a friend's birthday party. We dressed her as a fairy, but she wanted to be a dragon. (yawn)

R: For Halloween, we dressed up with some of the members of our Small Group as the characters of Peter Pan. Cosi was Tinkerbell, Sarah was Tiger Lily, and I was Captain Hook.

R: Bored of the party.

R: The Crocodile and Wendy (Alan and Cat). I like the Cosette looks like she's in on the photo gag. "Oh no! Look he's eating me - ahhhh!"

2009-09-12T13:17:00.000-07:00

Weeks 3-6

Crazy huh?? She turns 6 weeks old tomorrow. Yikes! And since we haven't been consistent with blogging, there is a surplus of photos to share. Let's get down to business...

R: This is at 2 weeks. She still fits inside a book. Dante's Divine Comedy to be specific.

S: That super cute "dress" is actually a shirt...at this point, she still wasn't really fitting into clothes.

R: Spa Dobson features deep tissue massages, mani/pedis, and tummy time.

S: The glare from Mad Eye was telling me to go a little to the left.

R: This is not her first bath. The photos of the first bath are... well... there was a fairly catastrophic meltdown. This bath was more pleasant.

R: Little monkey

S: I think this looks like she's in the middle of telling Ryan an amazing story. "Dad, you would NOT believe it!!"

R: She doesn't have enough control of her arms for this to be voluntary. But it sure is cute.

S: I disagree. I think that they instantly bonded because of the matching brown spots.

R: What I have in size, she beats with cute.

R: So this is her nursery, pre-design.

R: Thanks to the gifted Mia Viljoen, Cosette's got playful bunnies and a tree on her wall. The white text is a quote from Les Miserables that says: "When she entered the old place, she filled it with paradise. The delight we inspire in others has this enchanting peculiarity that far from being diminished, like every other reflection, it returns to us more radiant than ever."

R: She hasn't figured out how to laugh yet. But if she had, she would be here.

R: Grandpa and Grandma Dobson (Gramps and Nana) came and visited. More of those photos soon.

2009-08-26T18:10:00.000-07:00

Hurry up and weight.

Cosi lost a fair amount of weight after the first couple of days in the hospital (from 5 lbs 12 oz, to 5 lbs, 2 oz), and the doctors were a little worried about jaundice, so we had to take her in to have her weight checked every two days for the first week. She was completely fine, though. We knew she was gaining weight because of her increasingly chubby cheeks, which eventually turned into her nickname/Swing Band, of which, she is the lead singer --"Mad-eye Moody (see first post) and the Increasingly Chubby Cheeks".

We wanted to take a photo of her next to something to show her relative size. And she's (was) sleeping a lot... so it's a loaf.

R: Crawford Grandparents came into town for a week and loved on her. Plus cooked tons of great food.
S: Mmmmm...lemon bars.

R: First walk. Is that annoying that we're going to do all the "firsts"??

There is a baby inside of that super-fashionable stroller, purchased for her by a collective group of the best friends a baby (or parents) could ask for. Thank you guys so much!!

R: When we took her in for one of her weight/jaundice checkups, the technician taking her blood (young guy with two kids), told us: "Don't believe what anyone tells you. The first time she smiles, it's not gas. It is an authentic smile meant just for you. She's knows who you are, and she's smiling to tell you she loves you." That afternoon we came home and she was sitting on my lap. She started grinning this huge smile and I shouted at Sarah to come over. Just as Sar got there, Cosi let out a huge fart.

We love you too.

R: We took her up to the Pasadena Flea Market. Gotta teach them to be thrifty early.

S: Grandma Crawford and Sarah also went to Old Navy to try to find some small newborn or preemie sized clothing for tiny Cosette without much luck. As a result, she was in a diaper and a blanket most of the time.

R: She looks worried like this a lot. I think here she's concerned that I may roll over on her.

R: Gotta do the whole foot-print thing for the baby book. What else traditionally goes in there? Birth certificate copy? Baby's first haircut?

S: Clearly, she is very excited about all of this.

R: Family balcony time.

2009-08-20T18:58:00.000-07:00

Ok - we're going to try to start blogging photos every week. As Cosette is almost 3 weeks old already (what??), we're obviously behind. So we're going to play a little catch up first.

B Day:

R - I'm going to choose not to go into too many details on the semantics of this period of time. Sarah can do so, if she so pleases. Suffice my experience to be summarized this way, "It did?? Already?? Are you ok?" -- *rushed packing * -- "Are you ok?" -- *angry driving, annoyance with the 3 other drivers on Beverly Blvd at 1am -- "Are you ok?" -- *checking in, meet reassuring nurse and explain that we think this baby will come fast, spend time with nurse who under estimates how quickly this baby is coming, meet reassuring anesthesiologist, reassuring anesthesiologist makes jokes and leaves, reassuring nurse is shocked at speed baby is coming, calls doctor, talks to reassuring doctor, reassuring doctor takes her time showing up because she underestimates how quickly this baby is coming, reassuring doctor arrives aaaaannnnnnddddd, BABY.*

S - Ummm...did my...nah, surely not. I'll just go get in bed and pretend...oh oops, nevermind-it's for real. 15 minutes later, at the hospital, I'm 4cm upon arrival. 1 hour of discomfort, then more discomfort, then pain, then more pain, all of which the staff prefer to discuss on a pain scale from 1-10. At that point I'm 6cm, and I opt for the epidural. We're then told to get some rest, because it might be awhile. 1.5 hours later the nurses come in, and it's time to push.

R - Oh yeah, that pain scale is awesome. Ask Sarah to show you here #7 Grimace some time.

R: There were 5 people in the room. Then there were 6.

R: We call this "The Mad-Eye Moody"

S: Opening both eyes is overrated.

R: Melt you.

R: Despite our numerous conversations prior to Cosette's birth, Owen was still confused that babies are not food.

R: True Cali-girl. Born and introduced to In and Out on the same day.

R: The last cookie cake I will not have to share with her. Thanks Shifletts!

R: Uncle Donny and Aunt Lauren (Our Small Group)

R: Lauren is practicing. Cosette is keeping tabs on her soon-to-arrive partner-in-crime.

R: Aunt Catherine and Uncle Alan (Not pictured, Our Small Group)

R: In retrospect, I wonder if we could have asked for a bigger room based on the size of our small group?

R: Uncle Jay and Aunt Katherine (Our Small Group)

R: Uncle Brian and Aunt Suzanne (Yep, Small Group)

S: With their upcoming addition, in two years our small group will have gone from zero babies (one in belly) to 6 babies.

R: Mia and Francois (And Anabelle) came, but I was so distracted by the celebratory Cuban that Francois brought for us to share, that I forgot to take photos of them. They will be featured in upcoming posts. (note: Originally that first sentence said "...by the celebratory Cuban Francois..." man, I'd sure love to meet a Cuban version of Francois who just loves to celebrate).

R: I love this photo. After the guests leave - mom time.

R: Aunt Kelli and Uncle Matt (not pictured)

R: We needed to take a photo with the swaddle off to really show how tiny she is! Little, little thing.

R: The nurses don't mess around. This swaddle is perfect in 7 different ways - Cosette was out in just under 30 seconds. Afterwards I talked the nurse into swaddling me (not pictured).

S: These hospital blankets truly make the best swaddlers. In retrospect, we should have stolen more than one.

More to come!

2008-11-28T18:21:00.000-08:00

Argentina Trip 2008 - Day 7: Andes Outta Here

The next morning we had breakfast at Lares (I can’t remember if I mentioned this before, but Argentinian breakfast usually consists of just a piece of toast or a croissant and some coffee). We saw Matt and Nicole again and the four of us decided to meet at a bodega called “Ruca Malen” that we’d was great for lunch and tour/eat together.

Matt and Nicole headed to a bodega at which they had reservations and Sarah and I took the bikes that Lares had for vistors and took a ride around Chacras.

After our ride we hired a driver and headed out to the bodega to get a tour. Of the tours we went on, this one was the most “cookie cutter-ish”… the guide was the least knowledgeable and just seemed to know the basics. And we were with about 12 other people, which made it a lot less personal.

But! We had a great time hanging out with Matt and Nicole. We sat together outside – all looking at the mountains. Oh, and the food was amazing. Ruca Malen gave us a different wine to try with each dish. This was a ducle de leche mouse for dessert.

After lunch Matt and Nicole took Sarah and I back to Lares de Chacras – they had rented a car instead of hiring a driver to get around. It’s a slightly cheaper options, but you do have to be careful about how much wine you “taste”!

We packed up and headed out to the airport. The Taxi dropped us off and we went inside and stood in line at LAN (AA doesn’t fly into Mendoza, so they had to fly it over on a sister airline). LO AND BEHOLD THEY HAD MY BAG. After 6 days of no luggage!

With about an hour before we needed to be at the Omnibus stop, we headed back into Mendoza because we wanted to buy a specific wine we were worried we wouldn’t be able to get in BA: La Azul Reserve. We had this wine for lunch at Tupungato Divino and it was our favorite of the entire trip. We drove past the winery near Salentine but weren’t able to tour it. Anyhow, we stopped by a wine shop in Mendoza and they had it – so we bought two bottles to bring back with us to the US.

Finally we got to the bus stop, with 30 minutes to spare, and were able to get on a slightly earlier bus than what we’d planned on. Again we had great seats and this time remembered our Tylenol PM. We slept a lot better on this bus!

2008-11-27T19:23:00.000-08:00

Argentina Trip 2008 - Day 6: Baby got back-pack

We woke in the morning and were sad to leave Postales. Laura, Ursula, Betiana, and Italia had been so sweet to us… During breakfast we received a call from American Airlines saying that our bag was at the Mendoza airport and that we could go get it (and you say, “But wait! Didn’t AA say that they couldn’t call out?” Why yes they did!). I told them that we’d already been to the airport once because they’d told us it was there and it wasn’t. And that if it wasn’t there again, they would have to ship it to us BACK in Buenos Aires, because that evening we’d be taking the overnight bus back to BA. Arrrgg.

After breakfast a car came to pick us up and take us on a bit of a trip up into the mountains. Since the Valle de Uco is closer to the base of the Andes than Mendoza proper, we wanted to take advantage of the proximity and get some mountain time.

About 20k from Postales is a historical site called “Manzana Historica.” It is a very, very small town with a little museum, a convenience store, a medical building, and a few houses. The museum and historical site were built to memorialize San Martin. The story is that he sat below an apple tree (Manzana = apple) and contemplated liberation for the South American people from Spain in the early 1800's. This is Sarah and I also contemplating liberty for the Argentinean people under the apple tree. Though I doubt much will come of it.

After about 30 minutes of walking around the park, the driver started taking us higher up into the mountains. We stopped for a few photos:

We drove a ways farther up until he wasn’t comfortable taking his car much higher (those little Fiat coups aren’t built for mountain dirt roads) and so we stopped at an old resort location. It was a bit run down and no one was there except for the owner (I think it is a place that locals may go during the summer). It was about lunch time and the driver asked the owner if she would consider feeding us lunch in their restaurant. Obviously she hadn’t planned on guests, but she was very accommodating and said she’d whip up some empanadas for us.

We walked around the property a bit before lunch:

A meat/cheese plate is a very common lunch dish. I took this photo because of the jamon (ham) in the center: it was like our lunch meat ham, but mixed into it were hardboiled eggs, olives, and carrots.

Then the empanadas came – they do these very, very well. Usually it’s ground beef with a lot of chili powder and a bit of cumin, white or yellow onions, and bits of green olive. Then they’re lightly buttered and baked until golden brown. The view wasn’t too shabby either.

After lunch the driver took us back to Chacras (Mendoza) which was about 1.5 hour trip. Chacras is a southern suburb of Mendoza – about 25 minutes from the city center – where there are wineries much closer together than in the Valle De Uco. They are close enough in proximity that you can bike to quite a few and not mess with hiring a driver.

We arrived at our hotel – Lares de Chacras and got set up in our room. This was one of the two true “hotels” we stayed in, so we had to lay out at the pool in the afternoon. They are having a very hot spring so it was nice to take advantage of the water.

Every evening Lares has a Welcome Wine Tasting down in their basement cellar. We sat with two other couples, one from San Diego and one from Brazil and chatted about our experiences so far. The couple from San Diego (Matt and Nicole) were super nice and doing a vacation that was basically the reverse of ours (Buenos Aires first, then Mendoza); so we exchanged tips over a bottle of wine compliments of Lares.

For dinner we were in the mood for something more simple – since we’d had night after night of 5 course meals and very rich food (rough life eh?) We’d read about a hole in the wall Mexican food restaurant walking distance from our hotel called “The Taco Bar.” It was perfect. We were the only tourists, most of the silverware was plastic ware. But they made a mean guacamole, some great tacos, and tasty margaritas. Plus they had a funny/fun music mix. Sarah and I particularly enjoyed Video Killed The Radio Star and needed to remember that:

Back to the hotel for Election coverage! While the local stations were covering it, we didn’t understand quite enough Spanish to stick with that. So we watched the BBC. We had to stay up pretty late since Mendoza is 2 hours ahead of Eastern time. It was really interesting watching a British news channel cover the American election. They were pretty unabashed about saying that the US would benefit in its foreign diplomacy by electing Obama. Annnnnnnd with that, bed time.

2008-11-19T22:20:00.000-08:00

Argentina Trip 2008 - Day 5: A Tale of Two Tours

First, thanks to everyone who's reading and sticking with this. It's kind of like we've cornered you all into watching our family vacation videos, but you're being nice enough to stick around, long after dessert, to watch. Kind of you!

So we woke up on Monday morning having scheduled a couple of wine tours for the day. Postales actually did the planning (they were amazing - so thorough). We had breakfast - made by Diego and waited on by Italia (poor thing had to come to Postales just to wait on us for breakfast). Our driver picked us up at 10am and took us first to Salentine winery.

Salentine is one of the largest wineries in Valle de Uco (and Mendoza). They have a couple of art galleries that we were able to peruse while we waited for our tour to begin...

This shot below is standing at the visitors center/shop/gallery looking at the actual bodega. Our tour consisted of 4 couples: 2 from Germany, 1 from France, and Sarah and I. The tour guide took us along the vines and explained why different types of grapes are planted in certain locations and at certain altitudes.

The Bodega is two floors. The top floor is where all of the steel tank mixing and fermenting is done. There is a large, circular opening the center of the room that looks down on the lower level underground.

This is looking through that opening at all the oak barrels underground (it keeps them naturally cool).

This is a close up photo of their extra large oak barrels, which are HUGE. Almost 2 stories high. I'm trying to remember exactly, but we're pretty sure the guy said each one costs around $40,000 USD. They use them for three years and then switch them out for new ones.

Standing in the room we saw from above earlier.

Back at the visitors center Sarah snapped this of me with the fish-eye lens still on. I guess there's a reason wide angle lenses aren't used for portraiture.

We purchased an Iphone right before the trip and just didn't put the sim card in (so we wouldn't get charged international rates). That way we were able to use the internet anywhere we got WiFi - and in Argentina, it's EVERYWHERE. They're a lot better about letting you use it for free at cafes, bars, restaurants, etc.

After our tour and tasting at Salentine, we went to lunch at a place called Tupungato Divino. I had read online that a number of people really enjoyed it.

It was a long, slow ride down a bumpy, dusty road to a small restaurant/lodge stuck between two vineyards looking straight up at the mountains. Without question, this was the best meal we had on the trip.

For 75 pesos each (around $22 USD) we had a 5 course meal that took about 2 hours. We ate outside, had an incredible view of the mountains, and consumed the most carefully prepared food I've had in a long time. The chef was so sweet - she came out and explained each dish thoroughly in Spanish even though we didn't understand everything she said.

Sarah chose their chicken - I went with a salmon ravioli that was the best pasta of the whole vacation.

We also had our favorite wine of the whole trip here: La Azul Reserve. We haven't been able to find it in the states yet, so if anyone ever comes across it, please buy a bottle and send one to us! It's a very, very small bodega in the Uco Valley. Great wine.

Pablo (different Pablo than our chef at Postales), one of the two owners of Tupungato Divino, came to our table during dessert and expressed his thanks to us for driving out of the way to come to TD. He was a really sweet guy who told us that he and a childhood friend had moved their families from Buenos Aires to Mendoza to build TD. They left their steady jobs in the city, designed this restaurant and lodge, and came out to try something brand new. Well, it may take them a while to get it off the ground, but I HIGHLY recommend going here to anyone who is ever in the area. And their rooms are very nice too!

Next we headed to another winery called Andeluna. It is a smaller producer than Salentein. On weekdays they offer a cooking class taught by Pablo (not TD this time, Pablo who cooked dinner at Postales). This is the kitchen were he teaches and you get to eat what you cooked.

I really enjoyed this tour. The guide was very knowledgeable - it was just Sarah and I. He took us out to the vines and taught us how you can use the leaves to determine what kind of grape a vine is (by the shape of the leaf). He also explained how vines are pruned in order to achieve the sweetest or most potent grape you can get (the more grapes that are pruned, the higher the quality of the grapes that are left. But it also results in a lower yield, which is why those grapes go to the nicer, reserve wines.) There's an amazing amount of care and science and finesse that goes into winemaking.

And now the important part.

This wine region of Argentina is most known for the Malbec grape. It produces a very easy to drink red wine (below).

The view behind us at the tasting:

Andeluna vines below the mountains.

Sarah picking out a wine for us to buy.

Back at Postales we took a short nap and then I got up and took some sunset photos. These vines are brand new. Vines don't produce grapes until they are at least 3 years old - and most vines can't really be used for production until 4-5 years. Which is why it is not easy or cheap to have a vineyard!

While we were away Diego had started the meat for dinner that night. Hours and hours of careful roasting:

Again, rough life. The summary of our day: Wake, eat, wine, eat, wine, sleep, read, eat, wine, sleep.

So after we went on our evening walk, Laura (Postales receptionist) asked us where we'd like to eat. I said, "Oh, it's nice out again... I think outside." She said, "No, I'm sorry. I mean, where do you want your table to be." I said, "I'm sorry, I don't understand." She said, "Do you want to eat by the vines, by the pool? Where?"

So they moved the table wherever we wanted. We chose under the lamp, near the vines.

Yep.

There's something a little Narnia about this, no?

When I hand someone my SLR to take a photo of us, this is typically the type of shot I get back.

And finally, Postales before bed.

2008-11-18T21:30:00.000-08:00

Argentina Trip 2008 - Day 4: We were lucky enough to travel here, and we're going to flan-t it. (eh? EH?)

We woke up the next morning and immediately called American to find out if our bag hand landed safely in Mendoza. We wanted to find out BEFORE we took the 20 minute cab ride to the airport. Alas, American did not know where the bag was (surprise surprise). Since we were going to hop in a remise (hired car) and take a hour+ long drive out of Mendoza for 2 days, we thought we'd at least try to go get the bag and hope it would be there.

It was not.......

So we came back from the Airport and grabbed breakfast. If you don't know what the picture below means, then you haven't read my entry for Day 1.

So, forget it. We decided we'd go to Valle De Uco and just enjoy it for 2 days - not worry about the stupid bag. I grabbed a couple more shirts (above, and a pink one you'll see in a minute, and then over and over). And we took a remise out to the Valle De Uco!

Our remise driver didn't speak any english, but he would speak slow enough Spanish that Sarah understood 90% of what he was saying, and I probably got 40%. Really nice guy who told us all about Mendoza and the outlying countryside.

Don't know if you can read this map, but we drove south from Mendoza (top of the map) along the base of the Andes, toward the Valle De Uco and a town called Tunujan. After a little over an hour, we pulled off the highway and drove through the town and out into some farms. Finally, we drove up the driveway into our residence for the next two days: Postales del Plata.

Postales is a Lodge on a vineyard in the Uco Valley. They have about 8-9 rooms and have been closed for over a year completely renovating the place. They reopened the DAY we came and we were their first and only guests! Literally, we had a staff of 6 who were only there because we were... which was kind of guilt inducing, but also totally awesome. If you end up in this area one day, and don't go here, you're stupid: http://www.postalesdelplata.com/valledeuco.htm

Our room had the old-school key.

Simple, but very tastefully done.

One of the three buildings with rooms (ours on the left)

You stay for the view... Yes, that's a vineyard about 20 steps from our door.

Pool...

Iphone photo of us deciding that this is when the trip REALLY starts. Forget that dumb bag.

Remember, it's their Spring right now.

So dinner was going to be around 9. They were having a chef drive in from the city, who would be preparing dinner just for us. Crazy. He runs his own restaurant called Fuego - but they're going to use him for the Postales too as it gets up and running. We decided to take a walk around the property before dinner...

Looking back on the lodge...

Pretty rough life.

See the roses by my feet in the picture below? We thought they were a just a nice detail in the landscaping, but as we learned about Bodegas we found out that they are actually there for practical purposes. Roses are more quickly affected by toxins in the soil or dramatic moisture changes. So they plant roses at the head of each row and around the borders to work as indicators of any major problems. Canaries are to miners as roses are to grapes... it is canaries, right?

Ok, so let's talk food, because that's really the point of the trip.

When we got back from the walk we were introduced to Pablo, our chef. He has worked in San Francisco, Buenos Aires, but has settled in Mendoza. Super, super nice guy. We chatted for quite a while, and he passed along a couple of restaurant recommendations for when we were going to be in BA. He told us all about the menu for the evening that he and his Sous-chef, Diego, had prepared.

He prepares everything in the true Argentinian style - by wood oven. So everything we had was oven baked. The roles we ate were fresh out of the oven. The pork ribs were roasted for 4 hours before dinner, served with mashed potatoes and a roasted tomato. He explained that he likes to use very fresh, very flavorful ingredients, so that he can prepare more simple dishes. Like our salad which was arugula, Gouda, oranges, and oil/vinegar. Amazing.

Our waitress was a sweet girl named Italia. She didn't speak much English and was very shy to try it. But she informed us that she had to use us to practice since we were the first - so the three of us talked for quite a while. These are the times I enjoy most on a trip... when you're spending time with the locals, having local cuisine, and really getting a sense for the place. Of course everything seems better when you have good food and good wine.

But for me, the real achievement of the meal, was the flan. Prior to this, I did not like flan. I'd tried it, probably, 3-4 times, and had mediocre to negetive experiences with it across the board. I've never had flan like this. It was more creamy than gelatinous, and it was served with the most smooth dulce de leche I've ever tasted. It was incredible. Kudos to Pablo for being able to completely change my mind about a regional dish!

That's post-dinner bliss.

At the end of dinner, we'd ordered an additional bottle of wine for our room. So we went back, watched Mad Men on the Iphone, sipped wine, and then read until we fell asleep.

2008-11-17T22:33:00.000-08:00

Argentina Trip 2008 - Day 3: Whine and cheese

Tossed and turned on the bus a bit. But for the most part had a nice trip. And it's fun to wake up in the morning, open the curtains next to your seat and look out on the Andes.

Morning breath still exists in the Southern Hemisphere.... who knew?

The view outside our window as we drove into Mendoza.

So Mendoza is a city in the wine region of Argentina. It is on the western side of the country, right at the base of the Andes mountains, only a few hours from Santiago, Chile.

They served us "breakfast" on the bus and then we arrived at the Omnibus stop and unloaded. You can never have enough 2 peso bills... tipping for bags, paying for cabs. It's hard to have enough small change. ANYHOW.

Our first priority was to get a hold of American and find out what the status of my backpack was. We tried calling from the bus station but couldn't get through. So we grabbed a cab into the city (about 5-6 minutes) and headed straight for the Plaza Independencia, which is the park at the center of Mendoza.

Our hotel was right on the north side of the Plaza - Hotel Argentino - and they were really nice and helpful. They let us check Sarah's bag until our room was ready and then said they'd let us check in a couple hours early so we could call American Airlines.

We walked across the park to a cafe and had a... café. They are so much more detailed about serving coffee. Good luck finding a quick Starbucks with a cardboard sleeve here. When you order café (or café con crema, which was our fav), they serve it on a saucer, with a variety of sugars, a small cup of agua con gas, (in some places) a small cup of fresh squeezed orange juice, and a few small bites of pastry. All for about 6 pesos - $1.80 US.

It's a good way to relax. It was Saturday morning, the town was quiet, and we just enjoyed the weather.

Once we checked into our room, we called American. The update was that my bag, having been sent to Montevideo, was now going to be flown to Buenos Aires and then put on a partner airline (because American doesn't fly to Mendoza) and flown to us here. They wanted us to call every 3 hours or so to check and see what the update on the bag was. They said we had to call them, because their phones didn't allow them to dial out (I wonder where you can buy phones like that... I've never seen one...). And they refused to give us any spending money beyond the generous $25 they'd already committed to. Sigh.

Well, nothing makes me feel better than Pizza.

I'd read about a pizza place a few blocks from our hotel that was supposed to be a hangout for the locals. That's usually a good sign. Sure enough - we show up, and this place, Rincon de la Boca, is packed. While the pizza place immediately next door has 1 or 2 tables full. We had a really nice elderly man wait on us. He suggested this Margarita Pizza which was fantastic.

I even ate the olives, which I don't normally like.

Oh, also in this pic - you'll notice I'm wearing the same shirt again. Well, I'm not sure if you can see it, but a large hole was forming at this point on one of the shoulders. As the day went on, the shirt literally started to fall apart on me, and by the end of the day, I had to just throw it away. Amazing - I wonder if it was intentionally a disposable garment? hmmm..

Later that afternoon, we went to a wine tasting place called "Vines of Mendoza." While it's a touristy location, and we normally try to avoid such joints, I'd read that they are really helpful in answering questions about Bodegas and wine tours. So we went and shared a flight and asked lots of questions about our next few days in the Valle de Uco - a valley about an hour South of Mendoza, closer to the mountains and a bit higher in elevation.

Since we knew we'd be outside the next few days, and that it would be hot, we went and bought a pair of shorts for me. Then we took a siesta... because it's customary and we didn't want to offend any locals. Called American again and they said that my bag was supposed to be arriving on the 8:30am flight into Mendoza the next morning. That would be perfect because we could get it before we drive to the Valle De Uco, and hour away, for 2 nights!

Dinner was at an Italian restaurant. Can't remember if I mentioned this before - but Argentina has a huge Italian immigrant population. So Italian food is very prevalent and very, very good. They also make a mean key lime pie (below).

Dinner took about 2 hours. We were seated next to a large table of a couple different families; kids between 2-8 running around. Amazing that it wasn't until midnight that they started to look a little tired. They're so used to such a late schedule...

After dinner drinks at the bar a block from our hotel; Chatted until 2am or so... we couldn't leave before then because there were some octogenarians (about a dozen of them) having a loud conversation about a show they'd just seen together. We couldn't go to bed at 1:30am and let them outlast us.

Tomorrow, hopefully, my bag arrives and we're off to the Valle De Uco to do some wine tasting!

2008-11-16T22:21:00.000-08:00

Argentina Trip 2008 - Day 2: A Ferrly Fine Day

Upon waking, we quickly contacted American Airlines to double-check (or quadruple-check) that they weren't sending our bags to Montevideo. As mentioned before, this would be problematic because we were leaving via Ferry at 12noon, whereas the only Miami-MV flight would arrive by plane from Miami at 2pm. Instead, the bags were to be diverted to Buenos Aires. But this was also difficult, because we landed at the port of BA at 3:30pm, and at 7:30pm boarded an overnight bus (Andesmar) to travel from BA (east coast of Argentina) across the country overnight to Mendoza (on the westernmost side of the 6th largest country in the world).

So here's the plan. Bags diverted Miami to Buenos Aires. In BA they will be picked up at the airport by someone and taken to Retiro bus station. In the meantime, we will take a ferry to BA, piddle around for a bit, then at 6:30 (1 hour before the bus leaves) are to be at the Andesmar office at the Retiro bus station, where our bags will be delivered to us. Sounds perfect!

In the meantime, after fighting with American for a whopping $25.00 each, we had a bit of money to buy some toiletries and a second set of clothes.

Breakfast at the hotel, and straight out to buy a shirt, socks, and unmentionables. Here we are in our new digs.

Now ask yourself - self, of all the colors available to them, why did they both pick red? This, is a wonderful question. Apparently because we subconsciously very much like to match.

By the time the shopping was done, there wasn't much left to do other than go straight to the port. On our way, we stopped at the Mercado Del Puerto - which someone had told us to see during the day. We definitely wish we'd have been there the day before for lunch because there were a lot of cool little open restaurants cooking up meats for lunch that day. So if you're ever in the area... here's a shot of the inside:

Onto the Ferry. Since we were traveling to another country, we had to go through customs, bla bla bla. The tickets were about $60 each USD, coach class type seats. They have a snack bar and TV's. Pretty cool way to travel between the two cities. Here we are... matching... with the seats.

So we land in BA with enough time to walk from the port, into the city for a late lunch, and then go find our bags. I had a list of restaurants in BA to try and one of them was close by, called El Estabelo. This is what the review said: "I had lunch here my last day in Buenos Aires.. very well prepared Mollejas (sweetbreads) from the parrilla, a provoleta, and batatas fritas . Service was impeccable." Feeling adventurous, I ordered these "Sweetbreads" not really knowing what they were... when in Rome!

Here is the first sentence of Wikipedia on Sweetbreads: "Sweetbreads are the thymus glands of lamb, beef, or pork."

I knew something was wrong when the arrived at the table. Upon trying them, I determined that they were neither sweet, nor bread. I've repressed the rest of what happened.

Here's Sarah after lunch as we walk to the Retiro bus station.

We arrive at the station early - explain (in broken Spanish) what we're waiting for to the attendant at Andesmar... and wait. Around 6:30pm, we're chatting away, and I see a man carrying a backpack, looking at a piece of paper like he's trying to find someplace. I see it's Sarah's pack and I jump up! I race over to him, thrilled that this has all worked out! He doesn't speak a word of English but I try to tell him that Sarah can stay with this bag, and I'll go with him to his car to get the other bag. He says, "otra maleta?" ...........................

Sigh.

They flew one bag to BA. One to MV. Because that makes sense.

So after finding a place to call American, and a very frustrating phone conversation for Sarah (wherein she explained that they would now need to send our other bag to Mendoza), we determined I was going to need a few more socks.

Here we are, in the hour before our bus ride, trying to find a place to buy a few more clothes.

Finally we arrived back at Retiro with a few minutes to spare. We were both pretty excited about this bus trip because we'd bought first class seats. For $80 US per person (one way) we were seated in fully reclining seats on the bottom level of the bus (there are only 6 of these - the other seats are all on the top level). They served us dinner, drinks, breakfast, and even played movies for us! Here's the chaotic bus stop before we loaded up our one bag, and set off for the wine country.

Much, much needed wine country...

2008-11-15T07:59:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm going to attempt to write for 15 consecutive days about each of the days of our trip to Argentina (from which we just returned on Thursday). Mainly this is a way to share some of our photos from the trip with my mom. But if you're reading this, and you're not my mom, welcome!

Argentina Trip 2008 - Day 1: Bagless in Montevideo

Really, this trip started in Miami - our least favorite city. This is where our flight from LA to Montevideo, Uruguay connected. Miami is also the city that was the port for our Honeymoon cruise and - suffice it to say - we have adequate reasons to hate it. So there was a part of me that felt like being in Miami was a bit of a bad omen upon which to start our trip. But we connected without too much of a problem and took the overnight flight to Montevideo.

This Iphone photo is of the lady across the aisle from me on the Montevideo flight. Every time she left her seat, she went over the arm rest instead of around it. And this process took her about 30 seconds each time. I had to work very hard to get this photo...

Now, going to Uruguay was never part of this trip's original plan. But because we were using frequent flyer miles for these tickets, and because we couldn't get a flight into Buenos Aires using those miles, we decided on Montevideo which is only a 3.5 hour ferry ride from BA. We were only staying one night in Montevideo - but hey, it's a chance to see another country.

So we landed in MV, bleary eyed, exited the plane, and waited at the turnstile for our bags. And waited. And waited. We watched one couple, with child (loud, screaming, on-the-flight-child), who had been on both our flight from LAX-Miami AND Miami-Montevideo, pick up about 8 bags. Not kidding. They were both pushing those baggage carts piled high with suitcases. Somehow every single one of their bags arrived - but our two backpacks did not.

So we go to the counter and start that-whole-process. The rep was very nice and assured us it wouldn't be a problem to get our bags to us at our hotel the next day. However, there was a problem: the next flight from Miami was at 2pm the next day and we were leaving for BA at 12noon (of course). The rep didn't know what they were going to do, so she took our info and said she'd call our hotel.

We took a taxi into Montevideo and had it drop us off at the ferry port so we'd know where it was. Then we walked into town.

This is Sarah experiencing the cognitive dissonance of feeling like something is missing... oh yeah. OUR BACKPACKS.
We arrived at the Montevideo Holiday Inn. Yeah I know. But it was the cheapest way to stay in the heart of a city that we only had a day to learn. They were very nice... MV doesn't get near as much tourism as BA. In fact, Uruguay in general is kind of like the uglier step-sister of Argentina. Their currency is worth a lot less, poverty is higher, but the people are very nice!

This was the "view" from our room. (I bought this wide-angle lens right before we left on the trip. So you're going to get a lot of these photos as I try it out. )

After dropping off our bags in our room (meaning, carry-ons), we set out for some sights of the city and a lunch place that had been recommended on a blog I'd read about MV.

One of the ways that the poverty of the country was most obvious, was by the trash collection system. On and off throughout the day, we'd see men (or boys, some as young as 12-13) taking these horses/carts from corner to corner collecting the trash that was left there. I think the government must pay them for it... pretty sad. Especially seeing the kids out late at night doing this. And for the horses, some of whom looked old and over-worked.

Wow. This blog entry is a DOWNER.

We found our lunch location: El Fogon. Which I just looked up and it means "The Stove." That's appropriate for the kind of food that is most prevalent across Argentina and Uruguay: Parrilla. It's basically cooking meat (or pizza or pasta or whatever) in a wood burning oven.

The eating schedule is much different in South America compared to what we're used to in the US. Breakfast is very, very minimal. Cafe (coffee - espresso) with a piece of toast or a pastry. Lunch (later than it is for us, around 1-2p,) is a big meal. Often times it lasts between 1-2 hours, includes wine and big entrees. All this because after lunch comes.... siesta! We need to adopt this in the US. Nap time. Then dinner is MUCH later. If we went to dinner before 10pm we would be the only people in the restaurant. And at popular places, it wouldn't really get hoppin until nearly midnight (including families with small children).

Anyhow, this is Sarah and I jumping headlong into a parrilla lunch of red meat and pasta. We definitely had some great steak on the trip... but this wasn't it. If you ever travel to this part of the world, as us for tips on ordering different cuts of meat. We learned the hard way.

This is a building we found as we were walking around MV. It didn't seem uncommon to have a tree growing out of the side of your house. Some of the buildings were beautiful, but very unkempt (and even condemned in some places).

Parks seem much more prevalent in their cities than in ours. They are used - a lot. It's the place to hang out in the evenings.

As the afternoon headed into night, we found this park with a huge, beautiful tree at the center.

Underneath said tree.

Before dinner we hit a couple of convenience shops. We try to do this in every country we go to in order to pick up the weirdest candy that country eats and bring it back to share with friends. No candy here. But we did discover that they store their eggs on a shelf. Unrefrigerated. This is for Rodger Rushing.

Finally, dinner. A simple place on the main strip - pizza! Both Argentina and Uruguay have large Italian populations and Italian food is very prevalent. Great pizza! And we took a photo of the menu... who knew McCain is a menu mascot in the Southern Hemisphere?

More tomorrow...

2008-10-21T09:02:00.000-07:00

In preparing my next political post (which is about abortion) I'm in the process of reading a lecture given by Stanely Hauerwas (professor of Ethics at Duke) in 1990 to the North Carolina Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. This is indirectly related to the topic of abortion and was a quote I just had to share. He's addressing Christian ethics in general here and how, as Christians, we cannot think in terms of "Americana Inalienable Rights" because that doesn't fit with our Christian ethics:

Christians, to be more specific, do not believe that we have a right to do with our bodies whatever we want. We do not believe that we have a right to our bodies because when we are baptized we become members of one another; then we can tell one another what it is that we should, and should not, do with our bodies. I had a colleague at the University of Notre Dame who taught Judaica. He was Jewish and always said that any religion that does not tell you what to do with your genitals and pots and pans cannot be interesting. That is exactly true. In the church we tell you what you can and cannot do with your genitals. They are not your own. They are not private. That means that you cannot commit adultery. If you do, you are no longer a member of "us." Of course pots and pans are equally important.

2008-10-15T12:35:00.001-07:00

Wish I could say that I'd typed out all my Obama thoughts -- sorry to bring you in here on your RS feeds for something far less important.

So Sarah and I ordered a backpack from Sierra Trading Post for our trip to Argentina in two weeks (WooWoo!) - it came in and we decided it was a bit too small. So I called to return/exchange. It has been A LONG, LONG time since I've dealt with a company that was as helpful and nice on the phone as Sierra Trading Post. I didn't even go to a robo-voice. My call was immediately picked up by a real person... taken care of, free shipping, and they're sending out the replacement item before the return even gets there. If anyone ever needs to order outdoor equipment I HIGHLY recommend them (as do my parents who have used them for a long time).

P.S. Thanks to Jeff, Lyric, Kelli, Kelsi, Darci and Mom for the comments on the previous post. More is coming I promise!

2008-10-12T12:46:00.000-07:00

So last week my sister Darci asked me to email her an explanation on why I am voting for Obama (and why I wouldn’t vote for McCain). I didn’t anticipate writing so much, but it has turned into a short book… and I’m not finished. A few of you have asked to read it. Here is the first section. I’ll post the second of two in a few days.

Ok Darc,

Here’s my rundown on why I’m going to be voting for Barack Obama – but now that I’m sorting this all out in written form, I’m realizing that it had not occurred to me how much I’d need to type. Similarly, you probably didn’t anticipate the can of worms you’d be opening when you asked. But it’s pretty important to me that people (you, namely) know that I’ve thought this through and that it’s not just a trendy decision.

I’m going to organize this from big picture issues to specific policies; primarily because that’s how I got to know the candidate. And I’m not going to send this all at once because that’s just too much. So hopefully section by section will be more palatable.

My first run in with Senator Obama was in 2004, when Barack spoke at the Democratic National Convention. Sarah and I were trying to decide how to vote; we weren’t fans of Bush, but we didn’t really have much reason to like Kerry either, and we were trying to get a better feel for what was going on. I found that the rhetoric Obama used seemed more biblical to me than much of the policy being spouted by the other side (Sorry, “spouted” gives away my bias). I’m going to copy a few sections that were meaningful to me. You can also watch it on youtube. Here’s the first section: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWynt87PaJ0

“If there's a senior citizen somewhere who can't pay for their prescription and having to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it's not my grandparent.

If there's an Arab-American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties.

It is that fundamental belief -- it is that fundamental belief -- “I am my brother's keeper, I am my sisters' keeper” -- that makes this country work.

Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes.

Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America; there's the United States of America.

There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America.

The pundits, the pundits like to slice and dice our country into red states and blue States: red states for Republicans, blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the red states.

We coach little league in the blue states and, yes, we've got some gay friends in the red states.

There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq, and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq.

We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.

In the end, that's what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism, or do we participate in a politics of hope?

John Kerry calls on us to hope. John Edwards calls on us to hope. I'm not talking about blind optimism here, the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don't think about it, or health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it.

That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about something more substantial. It's the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker's son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too.

Hope in the face of difficulty, hope in the face of uncertainty, the audacity of hope: In the end, that is God's greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation, a belief in things not seen, a belief that there are better days ahead.

I believe that we can give our middle class relief and provide working families with a road to opportunity.

I believe we can provide jobs for the jobless, homes to the homeless, and reclaim young people in cities across America from violence and despair.

I believe that we have a righteous wind at our backs, and that as we stand on the crossroads of history, we can make the right choices and meet the challenges that face us…"

The primary element of the speech that I found so compelling, was Barack’s concern for the things that, I believe, worried Christ the most: the poor, the widow, the orphan – people who can’t afford health insurance, people on the fringes, the marginalized. But the other very important tone of his message was that he didn’t picture a country divided. I think, that coming from a home like ours – a home and upbringing that I treasure, one that had very specific conservative elements, some of which I feel differently about now – that meant a TON to me. I wanted to find someone as a leader who could do the proverbial “reach across the aisle” to both sides. Someone who could hold both sides in tension… because I feel like most of the time, when I see people disagree (on politics, religion, whatever), they are just filled with vitriol and aggression. He really seemed to believe that things didn’t have to be so segregated.

So, then I watched Zel Miller, the Keynote Speaker for the Republican National Convention. It could not have been more day-and-night different (divisive and laced with latent anger):

“Today, at the same time young Americans are dying in the sands of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan, our nation is being torn apart and made weaker because of the Democrats' manic obsession to bring down our commander in chief… Time after time in our history, in the face of great danger, Democrats and Republicans worked together to ensure that freedom would not falter.

But not today.

Motivated more by partisan politics than by national security, today's Democratic leaders see America as an occupier, not a liberator.”

Watch the first part here if you want: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_t_9d8L70U

I don’t need to pick these two speeches apart. You can watch either/both if you want. But the main point is that they were opposites, in almost every way. And I just totally felt that one made more sense (both politically and spiritually) to me.

Ok, so that’s the beginning.

Then I went out and bought Obama’s two books: The Audacity of Hope and Letters from My Father.

As I read, especially with The Audacity of Hope, I found more and more about how this guy saw politics and the general socio-political climate in America – and how I agreed with him.

(One funny, quick side note. In that section from Obama’s keynote I copied, you’ll notice the piece about “spin masters and negative ad peddlers” – as I was just watching the Obama keynote on Youtube, an ad for John McCain came up in the banner and listed all of the times Obama said “I agree with Senator McCain” during that first debate last week. I had heard they were going to do that – but I’d hoped they wouldn’t just because I think it’s so manipulative and underhanded. I WANT a senator who is willing to debate with someone and say, “Look, I understand where you’re coming from, and we agree on ABC – however, where we differ is XYZ, and this is why I believe XYZ to be true.” THAT to me is less bull-headed, more thoughtful, and a thousand times better! But they use it as a negative ad against him. Arg!)

So to take that side note and tie it into The Audacity Of Hope – as I read that book, I continued to hear a man talk about a belief system he has wherein we are called by God and Country to take care of one another. And I read that he didn’t believe we needed to attack each other so aggressively when we disagreed. He spent quite a bit of time addressing the ways that we need to be better about seeing other people – even those we may disagree with - as good people, with good intentions; and that this would help solve how ugly our political climate has become.

But at the time of reading this, I didn’t have a way of determining if Barack was capable of putting this into practice. For all I knew, he could talk a big game about empathy for other people’s worldviews, but when the rubber meets the road – and it’s time to win a campaign - maybe he would go for the throat, just like any other politician.

Here’s one of my favorite sections from Audacity:

"It's not a question we ask ourselves enough, I think; as a country, we seem to be suffering from an empathy deficit. We wouldn't tolerate schools that don't teach, that are chronically underfunded and understaffed and under-inspired, if we thought that the children in them were like our children. It's hard to imagine the CEO of a company giving himself a multimillion dollar bonus while cutting health-care coverage for his workers if he thought they were in some sense his equals. And it's safe to assume that those in power would think longer and harder about launching a war if they envisioned their own sons and daughters in harms way.

I believe a stronger sense of empathy would tilt the balance of our current politics in favor of those people who are struggling in this society. After all, if they are like us, then their struggles are our own. If we fail to help, we diminish ourselves.

But that does not mean that those who are struggling - or those of us who claim to speak for those who are struggling - are thereby freed from trying to understand the perspectives of those who are better off. Black leaders need to appreciate the legitimate fears that may cause some whites to resist affirmative action. Union representatives can't afford not to understand the competitive pressures their employers may be under. I am obligated to try and see the world through George Bush's eyes, no matter how much I may disagree with him. That's what empathy does - it calls us all to task, the conservative and the liberal, the powerful and the powerless, the oppressed and the oppressor. We are all shaken out of our complacency. We are all forced beyond our limited vision."

SO, does he put this into practice? I feel like in the last year, I have seen NUMEROUS examples of how Obama is NOT willing to succumb to dirty politics. He has been attacked by both Clinton’s camp and McCain’s camp, and yet he sticks to what I read. I watched the debates during the Democratic primaries, and here is a section I transcribed.

Democratic Debate in Ohio

The debate opened with Brian Williams presenting both a clip of Hilary giving an angry press conference about a Health Care mailing Obama did, and a photograph that was leaked on the internet of Obama in native garb from a country he was visiting (that news companies like Fox News have used to propagate the lie that Barack is a “secret Muslim”). The blog site said that the photo came from Hilary’s camp. It was a very strong opening opportunity for conflict/ between the candidates. Hilary responded about the mailing and talked about health care, then Williams asked about the photo.

Brian Williams to Senator Clinton: “…Can you say, unequivocally, that it did not (come from your camp)?”

Sen. Clinton: “Well, so far as I know it did not. And I certainly know nothing about it, and have made it clear that that’s not the kind of behavior that I condone or expect from the people who work in my campaign…”

Brian Williams: “Senator Obama, your response.”

Sen. Obama: “Well, first of all, I take Senator Clinton at her word. That she knew nothing about the photos. So I think that’s something we can set aside. I do want to focus on the issue of health care, because Senator Clinton has suggested that the flier that we put out, that the mailing we put out, was inaccurate. Now keep in mind that I’ve consistently said that I think Senator Clinton’s got a good health care plan. I think I have a good healthcare plan. I think mine is better. But I’ve said that 95% of our healthcare plan is similar. I have endured, over the course of this campaign, repeated negative mail from Senator Clinton, in Iowa, in Nevada, and other places, suggesting that I want to leave 15 million people out. According to Senator Clinton, that is accurate. I dispute it, and I think it is inaccurate. On the other hand, I don’t fault Senator Clinton for wanting to point out what she thinks is an advantage to her plan.”

I feel like that is the first time I’ve ever heard a politician essentially say “Look, I respect this person, and I think that they believe their way of doing ______ is the best way. I cordially disagree – I think my way is better for the country.” Not only was this important to me because of the principle, but also because Barack followed through on what he believed in! Years prior to this debate, he wrote about doing politics this way, and it was SO refreshing to me to see someone do exactly what he said he’d do.

So that’s the general basis for why I was drawn toward Sen. Obama as a presidential candidate. In the next couple of days, I’m going to write out my thoughts on specific issues: How the US is viewed throughout the world, the economy, race issues, abortion, gay rights, and healthcare. Then in the last segment, I’ll explain why I would be concerned about McCain/Palin being elected.

One last thing: There have been a number of times in my life when I’ve been made to feel by someone else that their way of thinking was the only way. It’s the belittling tone that is present in any form of fundamentalism (not just religious or political – just any kind of fundamentalism) because it insinuates that anyone who disagrees is unintelligent or unfaithful or illogical. I want to make sure you know that you are TOTALLY free to disagree with me on this stuff, and do it openly. I don’t want you to feel like my opinions corner you at all.

Ok, so that’s all for now (6 pages single spaces is enough I think).

Thanks for asking me to do this!

2008-09-25T10:29:00.000-07:00

So Jason Smith (my editor-in-chief) wanted to know where my work has been. What can I say? Worst consistency EVER.

Let’s do a quick GQ for this month; then next week I’ll update my life, do some thoughts I have on the current political climate, and maybe even treat you to an essay I’ve been working on called “Rock and Roll – the new voice of the Old Testament prophets”.

So for those of you who don’t know (but I’m pretty sure you all do… since I don’t think I’ve added to my 3 readers recently), GQ is my guilty pleasure at Peet’s coffee on Larchmont Blvd in LA. I try to go once or twice a week, get a coffee, sit outside and read.

Here’s the ritual. I always listen to music (right now, it’s the Foo Fighters most recent album, “Echoes Silence Patience and Grace” – “Home” is an amazing track. I highly recommend it. The whole record is fantastic). I always work in phases.

Phase 1 is eliminating the double-paged ads. I flip through the magazine tearing out every page that has ads on both sides (exceptions given to 2-3 ads I like… for example, I think Lacoste’s ad campaign shot by Phil Poynter is absolutely beautiful.

So I keep those). I always score the pages with the swiss army knife my brother gave me as a best-man gift for his wedding – this way the small amount of page left in the spine of the magazine does not incrementally increase as I tear page after page. Were I not to do this, by the time I reached the back, the magazine would be all lopsided. And who wants to read a lopsided magazine? No one.

Phase 2 is the creation of my own table of contents. I always use a blue sharpie, and I try to always make the contents on the back page. This is my list of article contents that I actually care about – it makes it easier to find info later on. And the table of contents always starts with the number of pages I tore out in ratio to the total pages in the magazine. I do this as a corrective – it helps me remember how influenced I am by commercialism. This month, Sept 2008, the magazine is 300 pages long; 150 of which were double sided ads. That DOESN’T include single page ads! So more than half of the magazine that I PAY FOR, is composed of ads (made by companies who paid to be in the magazine) that are trying to get me to pay for something they make. Pretty ridiculous.

Phase 3, I actually get to reading. Any time I find something interesting, notable, or provocative, I dog-ear the page and mark it. Then it becomes a table of contents entry. Here are my picks for this month:

(Remember! If you ever want to read one of these, I’m happy to copy/scan it for you and email it along!)

p. 223: quick article about how record companies are starting to look at selling albums on vinyl and then, if you purchase the record, allowing a free online download of all the songs on iTunes! I think this idea rocks. People aren’t buying CD’s as much because they just download them onto their computer and play them on their ipod. The advantage to records, other than the artsy-vintage feel, is the superior sound quality. Here are some bands paving the way: Vampire Weekend, Fleet Foxes, and Cold War Kids (Don’t know Fleet… but the other two are good bands).

p. 234: Short interview with Aaron Sorkin (genius writer behind Sports Night, A Few Good Men, West Wing, Studio 60). I don’t know that much about him as a person, but I found this interview very interesting. Usually, people in the biz explain why something failed, and why it wasn’t their fault. Here, he takes the blame for Studio 60 not working (when it was such a GREAT show). He talks about the general socio-political climate post-9/11 and how that has affected the kind of TV we watch and the way writers write. Here’s my favorite quote/exchange about politics and blogging:

AS: …But the anger-it was a post-9/11 anger. We were going through a time when the television networks were so sensitive toward appearing patriotic. And patriotism was just being questioned all over the place. It just seemed like the wheels had come off our national culture.

GQ: The Janet Jackson – FCC incident could easily be lumped in with that.

AS: There was hysteria everywhere. Exactly. And the Internet [doesn’t help] – It’s a bronchial infection on the First Amendment. Nothing has done more to make us dumber or meaner than the anonymity of the Internet.

p. 236: Quick review of the book Obama is reading… and I’m curious about it. I’ll just type it up for you fast: “In the late ‘90s, having concluded that you can’t truly help poor kids without addressing everything in their lives, Geoffrey Canada, created the Harlem Children’s Zone, a ninety-seven-block swath within which he has woven a safety net so tight that the kids there cannot fall through. Barack Obama has said the HCZ is “saving a generation of children in a neighborhood where they were never supposed to have a chance.” Now comes a remarkable book, Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America, by Paul Tough, a story more gripping and inspiring than you’d imagine social policy could possibly be. – by Joel Lovell

p. 250 – Full article about Robert C. Byrd, 90 year old congressman who has been on the hill for 50 years. Wow. Interesting reading about his openness about his early racism and his work to overcome it. The article is mostly about how the democrats are ambivalent about him because he is a legend and has so much seniority, but is starting to drift because of his age.

p. 328 – Article about wine and the best vineyards in Spain.

p. 347 – Article about an accidental cop killing (by his partner) that might not have been an accident. Good story.

Alright! That’s it! Hope you’re all well.

2008-09-16T11:05:00.000-07:00

I think this video that Carrie Miller sent me may have just trumped the previous one. Make sure you watch till 2 min for his dance break. Also, why does he have a head mic, and the women have handhelds? Oh wait... so that we all get that they're his backup dancers.

Oh, one more thing... my favorite part of the whole thing is the "Truth" synth player in the back, screen right. Enjoy!

2008-09-14T19:51:00.001-07:00

I'm soo not on the ball with this thing. Gotta pull myself together. Especially when there really is quite a bit of news to share. Well, in the meantime. Marty Michelson passed this along to me, and I shall now share it with you all.

2008-08-19T18:25:00.000-07:00

Tuesday Errands

So today I decided I was going to run all my errands via LA public transportation... with rising gas prices I've been curious to try it. The problem is that most of the time, it's not cost effective because you need to make so many transfers. So unless you work at the same location every day and can by a month/day pass, it doesn't make sense. But I bought a day pass for $5, and figured it would be about the same as the gas I would spend today. Here's my adventure:

I quickly realized that my main mistake was that with bus travel, it really helps to have done your homework and know when the bus comes. I stood for about 20 minutes for the first bus, which I really didn't need to do. Also, this is my street.

My favorite thing about public transportation is, and always has been, being able to read while going to and from. GQ, of course.

I rode the 210 to Vine/Sunset, then the 2 to Sunset/Stanely where I dropped off my reel to be uploaded onto Breakdown Services (if none of that made sense, here's the translation key: "Reel" is a term that refers to footage an actor has compile to show his or her work. "Breakdown Services" is the company that provides audition information to all agents - they have a program called "Actors Access" that allows actors to have a headshot/resume/reel online so Agents can send it to Casting Directors. And "uploaded" is... you know)

Weird photo - not sure why. I took it of myself at Hollywood and Highland. I had taken 2 transfers to get there. Hollywood and Highland is the touristy center of Hollywood with the Kodak theater, people dressed up as characters for photos, etc. I saw a spiderman with a pretty awesome pot belly.. wanted to take a photo, but felt weird about that. Walked down into the subway!

I love riding the subway. It reminds me so much of being in Europe. LA actually has a really nice subway system - it's just not extensive enough. But hopefully that will change a lot in the next 10-20 years. I was eating my lunch while waiting for the train when some kids informed me that you can get a $250 fine for eating down there. I wonder why?? - I went to my new Agent's building up by Universal Studios and dropped off headshots. Then came back. When I got back to the building, the painters had finished painting the lobby. This sign was on the floor alerting tenants to wet paint on the walls. It was a funny end to my afternoon.

2008-07-29T20:57:00.000-07:00

EARTHQUAKE IN MY APARTMENT.

Today, July 28th, at 11:42am, I was on my way to the bathroom to brush my teeth before an audition for a Time Warner commercial. Suddenly the mirrors on our closet started shaking and I heard a low roar. My immediate reaction was annoyance because I thought it was excessive street noise: what kind of acute small-man syndrome must a person have in order make buying a ridiculously loud Harley a reasonable thing to do? Our street is narrow and it amplifies the sound. But then the floor started waving back and forth.

I realized it was an earthquake and my first thought was "get under the bed frame." This, however, would prove difficult, as we have a platform bed. Yet, the logical problem with those two mutually exclusive truths escaped me in the moment, and as the building shook back and forth I knelt at the bed, looking for a way under. When I finally realized that I'm an idiot, I jumped up and ran to the bedroom door frame... at which point the quake was over. Good thing it was only a 5.4.

My first quake! Not too bad. No damage - just fun.

2008-07-17T08:18:00.000-07:00

I'm going to start periodically updating a list of "Strange Things I Do." Today's addition:

1.) When removing eggs from the egg carton, I always try to retain symmetry in the organization of the eggs. Meaning, if I'm cooking 4 eggs, I'll most likely use the 4 corner eggs (assuming the carton is full at the time). Since this symmetry is so important, I usually cook eggs in 2's.

2008-07-11T14:38:00.000-07:00

Here are two things that have made my week feel.... Victorian:

1.) Quote from Anna Karenina (which I've never read before... the brand new Penguin Classic translation is awesome! A friend and I are resurrecting the Pizza Hut book club "Book it" from when we were kids. We're reading a book together and then going to PH to eat! Although, I don't think they'll give us a personal pan pizza for free... - I'll put this quote within it's paragraph at the bottom of this post):

"All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life are made up of light and shade."

2.) A photo I just took for a Pride and Prejudice poster I'm making for Reduxion Theatre Company in Oklahoma:

I hope someday I can be in a period piece movie. Check out those sweet side burns.

AK: "You're a very wholesome man. That is your virtue and your defect. You have a wholesome character, and you want all of life to be made of up wholesome phenomena, but that doesn't happen. So you despise the activity of public service because you want things always to correspond to their aim, and that doesn't happen. You also want the activity of the individual man always to have an aim, that love and family life always be one. And that doesn't happen. All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life are made up of light and shade." - p. 42

2008-07-07T15:22:00.000-07:00

Well, after a week of almost nothing but this, the short is finally ready! This is the second installment of some satirical shorts we're making about the Labor dispute in Hollywood (for more info, see the Backstage interview below).

Enjoy! And VOTE FUNNY FOR US! (watch it on Youtube too if you want!)

FunnyorDie

Hollywood Satire - Episode 2: The AMPTP is a Cold Mistress...funny videosFunnyOrDie.com

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D44WhEE9QWw

2008-06-26T13:20:00.000-07:00

So an article came out in this week's BackStage (east and west) about the short films going up on the internet regarding the SAG/AFTRA/AMPTP controversy, and ours was featured! It was a humble end-of-page cite, but any publicity is good publicity (is that how the saying goes?). To check it out, go here: Back Stage

Here's the video, and the full transcript of our interview. We said some funny, thoughtful stuff, if I do say so myself. But, ah well, not funny enough to make the cut...

The Video: SAG vs. AFTRA vs. AMPTP

The Interview: (Backstage Journalist Halley Bondy)

Were you compelled to make the video based on any particular event/events in the news or personal experiences?

RD: Well, we had had conversations about the negotiations for a while, but the specific event that really motivated it was Nikki Finke’s article in DeadlineHollywoodDaily.com that reported AFTRA’s contract agreement and then their shady avoidance of SAG on Thursday the 29^th of May – which I think every actor should read. When I read that AFTRA had agreed to the same New Media terms offered to SAG on day 1 of negotiations, and that they had “caved on clips” – her words - plus they had been really ridiculous in their refusal to brief SAG on their agreement, I was shocked. One sentence she wrote just stuck with me, and I printed it off “Tragicomedy, because the losers were the 40,000 dual cardholding actors – a majority of them here in Los Angeles – who "got ditched like a bad prom date" by the AFTRA negotiating committee that purports to represent them.” Anyhow, so that night we talked about all this in acting class…
PC: And part of it was, looking back on the discussion that night, we saw how passionate and well-informed some actors are, and how others have no clue about what is going on. Literally we were in the middle of an important talk about the union and what’s going to happen to their future and livelihood, and they’re off in another world.
RD: Yeah, so those two things really kept me mulling over the whole topic until writing a short seemed like a good idea.

4. What exactly was your mission in creating this video? Who were you intending to reach, what is your underlying message through these stock characters?

· RD: “Stock characters?”

· TE: Ouch Halley.

· PC: Uh, there’s nothing “stock” about my character. That is pure genius.

· RD: I think I would say my goal was to do what satire does best: poking fun by being over the top and hyperbolic and making caricatures of a group of people to say, “Look, this dynamic is kind of ridiculous.” Just to say - like you were mentioning Patrick - look guys, we have to care about this. It’s a form of art; and hopefully that’s exactly the kind of thing art does.

· PC: And I think there are two ways to go about that stuff. I think that sometimes people get a little aggressive and try to bludgeon someone over the head with their message. But at the same time, people don’t listen when you’re shaking them and saying “listen to me!”

· RD: Right

· PC: So, I feel like we can attempt to make it a little more…

· RD: Palatable.

· PC: Yeah, like I said the other day, we hope this lands like a Chris Rock joke. First it makes you laugh, but then the next day it makes you think a little bit. Which is all you can hope for with something like this.

· TE: Yeah, and some of the SAG stuff they send out can be really dry, and hard to swallow. And we’re actors, we have to make it - not dumb it down - but make it something that people want to look at. Just to get people to talk about things. It’s just an easy way to get people to think about the situation.

· RD: Yeah, so the main goal is just to create a conversation, and maybe be a part of that conversation only peripherally. And I think a secondary mission, like with Monkey Bread Productions – the other YouTube channel that Tiffany and I are a part of – we’ve been discussing the whole issue of making YouTube shorts and how it seems like you get a lot of hits if you do a short about sex or poop or something that’s just vulgar and over the top. And there’s part of me that wants to make something like that just to see if we can get a gagillion hits. But then there’s also part of me that wants to sleep at night, and not want to die inside, and instead make something that matters and is smart. And if satire can do that, then I think it’s a great tool to have.

HB: Who were you intending to reach?

· RD: Oh, I think it’s pretty clearly only for people who know what’s going on between the unions and care about it – so primarily actors. Or should we say that we were intending to reach the producers?

· PC: Yeah, I’d actually like a TV show out of this. This is kind of a pilot for me.

· RD: Target audience: Show runners.

· PC: Well, and I think in this age, especially in our age group, I feel like people are really disconnected from a lot of things that are important. People just want to bury their head in the Perez Hilton sand and pay attention to that crap. And not pay attention to what’s really important – their livelihood. If someone is really serious about being an actor, then there’s no more important time in your life than right now. So it seems odd that some people aren’t a little more active,.. just active in knowing.

· TE: Just reading the contract.

· PC: Right, or the pamphlets that suck. Or Nikki Finke’s blog. Just something. It’s crazy how many people in the union are ill informed, in both unions.

· RD: Right, because if you want to be a life-long actor; if you think at all, “hopefully this will affect me for the next 60 years of my life.” And knowing, historically, that the last 27 years have all been based off of one negotiation of one contract, it is incredible that more people aren’t anxious to be informed and aware of what’s going on.

5. What specific problems do you have with AFTRA's leadership? AMPTP? The new AFTRA contract? What would you like to see change?

RD: That sounds like I have a personal issue with AFTRA, and I don’t. I would say that there is a general dynamic in the way that AFTRA is negotiating and historically negotiated the basic cable contracts in 2005, and similarly, there is a general dynamic in the way that SAG has done that. And what it has resulted in, today, is that actors – given the choice – would rather work SAG contracts, because SAG has worked harder to get certain things for actors than AFTRA has. Mainly they just need to go back to the table together. So, I don’t have a problem with them personally – everyone I’ve met on the AFTRA board seems like a really wonderful person, who is very intelligent, and I enjoyed hearing their opinions very much. But that general approach to the way they negotiate separately then turns into lower rates, less residuals, healthcare that isn’t as good, etc.
PC: Right, and the fact that AFTRA has less than 10% of the shows on TV, and then goes in and does a deal before SAG can, is troublesome to me. And like you said, they are great people, and I whole-heartedly believe that they think they got the best deal possible.
RD: Well, and that’s what I’m saying, I think they feel like they got the best deal possible operating inside their framework; which is not taking a strike seriously as a possibility. You know the Shell Oil Truckers just ended a 4 day strike. And you could really use the same kinds of arguments against a union like that as people are using against SAG: it’s horrible time in the economy, it’s going to hurt a lot of people, gas prices are really going to go up. But a union doesn’t have many other tools other than the threat of not continuing to work. That’s why strikes exist. I know that from Newsies.
PC: True. But the only thing I will say is that SAG is not the innocent partner in the corner twiddling it’s thumbs. There are a lot of politics involved that we don’t get to see. It is both of their faults that AFTRA went to the table and made a deal alone and that SAG wasn’t with them. And vice verse, that AFTRA went to the table and shut SAG out of the negotiations. I feel helpless as a member of both – I feel like my parents are divorcing. I just want them to work it out.
RD: Good metaphor. And now the judge is making you decide who you want to spend weekends with.

HB: What specific problems do you have with the AMPTP?

· RD: Well, that’s a funny question because I think that they’re doing a great job of what it is they’re supposed to be doing; which is not giving us anything. If you are someone who is working behind that juggernaut that is the AMPTP, you have to be pleased with how they’re performing. So what do I want from them? I want a million dollars for my own show.

HB: What would you like to see change?

· RD: What I really would want different is for the two of them to have negotiated together – or to scrap this first contract and go back together. To not have allowed the AMPTP to do something so obvious like divide and conquer. I guess I’d also say that I am disappointed that AFTRA didn’t agree to this debate that SAG proposed. I think if they could have found a great moderator for that, it could have been beneficial.

PC: That would have been awesome.
TE: Yeah, at a theater or something where people could have gone and listened.
RD: Right, but some people are upset about that debate and are mad at SAG because they think SAG is distracted and attacking a sister union. But the implicit assumption there is that what AFTRA has done has not affected SAG – but it has HUGELY affected SAG. Not only is it an issue of leverage in the current setting, but down the road, AFTRA’s contract could completely alter the landscape of shows…
PC: Yeah, I don’t understand why there hasn’t been more talk about this. This is what it really boils down to.
RD: Right, as shows are shot more and more on digital, they will have the option of going AFTRA like Cashmere Mafia or Till Death or Damages, and all the sudden we’re going to start seeing a LOT more AFTRA work. Because what producer is going to chose a more expensive SAG contract over a cheaper AFTRA one? No one.
PC: Exactly, and that’s why I’ll vote “no” on AFTRA’s contract. Because the only way to solve this is to drop this first contract, for AFTRA and SAG to go back in together and negotiate one deal, and then when all the smoke has cleared to merge the two unions.
RD: And put all this crap behind us.

6. This could almost be seen as fodder in favor of a strike, no? Would you strike before conforming to the "compromises" of the AMPTP?

TE: It’s not fodder for a strike. I think that’s anyone’s immediate reaction to anything right now that basically says,

“Um, excuse me… could we talk about this?”

“Oh?! So you want to strike!?”

I think people have to be not so afraid that we’re just going to stop working if we simply want to talk about something.

RD: And it’s also not wrong to critique what AFTRA has done – that also doesn’t translate into a call for a strike.
PC: Well, and that’s the whole point. I think, just because you’re asking hard questions, and drawing a line in the sand, that doesn’t mean I’m frantic to strike.
TE: And it’s not even a “hard question”! It’s putting a wig on you (Patrick) and poking a little fun. It’s not… come on. Calm down.
RD: And seriously, who’s listening to us anyway? Like we’re going to be this major swaying force in the history of the industry.
TE: Yep, us and our 900 friends that have watched our video.
RD: And my mom who keeps clearing her internet cache and re-watching the video.

HB: Would you strike before conforming to the "compromises" of the AMPTP?

TE: Well, I think that the strike is a group decision. I mean, I think what we’re going out for is just for everyone to talk about it and come to a decision together.
PC: I feel like you have to trust your union. If they fully believe that they need to strike in order to get a contract that will help us survive for the next 27 years, if that’s the only thing that will allow us to get better than what AFTRA received, then I think that’s something you have to entertain. You can’t be afraid of the threat you’ve made.
RD: I also don’t think I’m comfortable answering that question just yet. I mean, when so much can change so quickly. When we still have a week and a half before the end of the contract. 12 days before the 30^th of June.
PC: Right, and even the end of the contract doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll strike.
RD: Right, and then they still would have to vote on it. And that’s supposed to take like 2 weeks. It’s crucial to remember the threat of a strike holds more weight as the deadline approaches. And so, to make that decision now, when we’re still not at the point of SAG’s most potent influence, seems premature.
PC: It’s tough too. We don’t’ know what issues they’re willing to compromise on. Of the laundry list of issues, you know that like half that list is stuff that they’re willing to give up so they can get the other items.
RD: And they learned, from the writer’s strike, that if they walk in and say, “Ok look, we’ll give up the DVD’s if you’ll give us this.” Then the AMPTP is just going to say, “haha! You gave up DVD’s – now we know you’re willing to compromise on those.” Because they did that to the writers. And the other just quick note, the other thing that surprises me as people write blogs and comment on blogs, is how frustrated some people get with Alan Rosenberg – who I don’t know and I don’t know that much about his style of negotiating – but they get so frustrated with him saying that he thinks there is a good possibility that there will be a strike. Like they feel like he is callously dooming the town for a recession. But what kills me is, OF COURSE he says that.
TE: Yeah.
RD: We have no leverage, no threat of a strike if the president of SAG comes out and says, “Listen, we probably won’t strike.”
PC: Like, “Honestly, it’s just smoke and mirrors.”

7. What kind of responses have you gotten for making this video? Funnyordie has a voting system, correct? Have you been contacted by any of the unions? You (ryan) mentioned a chat with some 'AFTRA folks,' what are you talking about?

TE: Mom loved it. The boyfriend thought it was hilarious.
PC: My mom didn’t even know it was me. But when she realized it was me, she was very proud I was that good in drag.
RD: I like how all three of us immediately go to how our mom’s responded to the video.
PC: I know right? That’s all that matters; what your mom thinks.
RD: No, but I’ve been really pleased by the response. I’ve had nothing but really positive responses. And, we’re ranked really high on funny or die voting.
PC: Which is tough to do, because people usually just vote die just for fun.
RD: Right, they’re like, ‘Um, there aren’t any porn jokes in the first 30 seconds of this video – Die.’

HB: Have you been contacted by any of the unions?

PC: Nobody’s contacted us but you!
TE: And you are printing our names, so I’m sure we’ll be getting some emails from somebody. Maybe I’ll change my email address…

HB: You mentioned a chat with some ‘AFTRA folks’ what are you talking about?

RD: We study at Lesly Kahn & Company and Lesly had reps from both SAG and AFTRA come on different nights and present their sides of the story. It was a good reminder that there are always two sides to every story. We had a really extensive meeting with AFTRA, Patrick and I and a couple other actors sat in an office for over an hour just gleaning information from them
PC: It was over two hours, I think, that we sat in there.
RD: It was a long time, and we still walked away going “Wow. But I still feel the same.” We learned that they are passionate, reasonable, smart people that approach this negotiation from a place that is different from what we want a union to be. So we don’t dislike them at all – we like them in fact – we just aren’t quite on the same page.

8. HB: Have you posted anything else on funny or die, or plan to? (I noticed that this is episode 1, is this a series?)

RD: Yes! It isn’t a series with the same characters, but…
PC: But we gots somthin’ fo ya.
RD: Yeah, that’s a teaser. We’ll have another one up end of the month.

9. I gather that the AMPTP is a slimy, uncompromising business snob, SAG is a nice gal with reasonable demands who is however helpless against AMPTP, while AFTRA is a naïve skank. Correct? However I saw that there are some blatant references to contract specifics (the internet residual line, for instance) but is anything else mentioned (herpes, rusty trombone hehe) a metaphor for contract specifics?

· RD: Well first, no.

· TE: Right, because SAG is clearly the hot girl, and your character description doesn’t make any reference to that.

· RD: Yeah, the thing that makes me uncomfortable with that statement is that it implies that everyone in the AMPTP is slimy and uncompromising… which I’m sure is not true. On the other hand, I don’t think there’s any question that they all have herpes. That’s just common knowledge. But I’m sure they aren’t necessarily slimy.

· TE: And I didn’t think AFTRA was a skank, I just thought she was desperate.

· RD: Yeah! That’s exactly what I was going for. Because, you know, I thought Patrick, you did such a good job in that scene of saying, “These are my needs and my wants…”

· TE: “And you’re gonna buy me flowers…”

· RD: Yeah, and then what happens is that you just give in to this absurd deal, but it’s not like you’re sleeping around.

HB: However I saw that there are some blatant references to contract specifics (the internet residual line, for instance) but is anything else mentioned (herpes, rusty trombone hehe) a metaphor for contract specifics?

RD: Yes, I’m pretty sure the internet residual line is the only thing in the entire short that is a direct reference to anything in the contract negotiations. But, let’s be honest, rusty trombone does represent…
PC: The sunset clause.
RD: Yes! The sunset clause.
TE: Good. Classic.
RD: Well, I mean, I think that’s clear.
PC: Seriously, you have to be a moron not to see that.
RD: Again, this is satire. Right?
TE: It’s fun!
RD: To take it as a call for the strike or…
TE: Propoganda…
PC: Yeah, and to do something as a really goofy commentary, just for the sake of the fun of doing it, and then to get attention from a trade paper is great! It is beyond icing on the cake – because that wasn’t something we thought or planned on. It was just something that you wrote, Ryan, because it came to your head, and we were excited to do because it was fun to hang out and shoot something. It ended up turning out pretty good! It’s just amazing to have that outcome.
RD: It makes me think of Michel Gondry quote that I’m going to mess up: “It’s utopian that people would just be able to make films of stories that they like, to have fun with that process, and then other people would then pay attention to that result.” Halley, I’ll find that quote and email it to you. (Actual quote from GQ Feb 08: “That’s what it’s about. To make your own what you want to watch. For yourself. Not to be part of a commercial system…It can’t be bought by anything. It’s completely utopistic. How you say, utopist.”)
PC: Oh, and I’ve learned that it’s said “A-M-P-T-P” through the whole process.
RD: Yeah, the best thing that’s come out of this, is that we are the only people that we know who can say “AMPTP”

PC: Every time. I get it now.

2008-06-25T09:04:00.000-07:00

From the Colbert Report "The Word"

"But thanks to George Carlon, a fearless warrior in the fight for censorship, there are seven words you will never hear on TV: (This Reality Show is a Terrible Idea.)"

Oooohhh... sad because it's true.

2008-06-23T08:23:00.000-07:00

Just came up with a good 80's band name: "Barfing Chili"

Perhaps a good first single for the band: "With Thick Hair"

Also, I'm going to start making an entry once a week (at the least). Jason Smith, you are my blog accountability partner. If I have not, by Sunday of any given week, blogged during that week, I expect you to call me. Anyone else who wants to keep me accountable, you're welcome.

2008-04-19T14:49:00.001-07:00

I just checked my blog comments and saw that my last post about Shepard Fairey had TWO posted comments!! I read the first:

placa de vídeo said...

Hello. This post is likeable, and your blog is very interesting, congratulations :-). I will add in my blogroll =). If possible gives a last there on my blog, it is about the Placa de Vídeo, I hope you enjoy. The address is http://placa-de-video.blogspot.com. A hug.

12:37 PM

I was really excited! I mean, sure, the dude is trying to get me to check out his blog. But whatever, right? I mean... a person I don't even know, someone from another country, found my blog, read it, and thought it was interesting. That's awesome!! Ok, on to the second comment:

câmera digital said...

Hello. This post is likeable, and your blog is very interesting, congratulations :-). I will add in my blogroll =). If possible gives a last there on my blog, it is about the Câmera Digital, I hope you enjoy. The address is http://camera-fotografica-digital.blogspot.com. A hug.

Oh. Dang it.

2008-04-16T17:32:00.000-07:00

So this is awesome:

According to CreativeReview.co.uk - "Penguin Books has commissioned Shepard Fairey of Obey to create two new book covers - for two George Orwell classics: Animal Farm and 1984.
The re-issues will be available from 3 July."

FYI - He's my favorite artist. If you ever want to buy me something...........

2008-04-11T19:22:00.000-07:00

Something interesting from this week:

it is the first time I've felt like a real, legitimate actor. 2 years in LA. I now have a Theatrical Agent - a kind of representation I've never had before. Meaning, now I won't be the one doing the leg work to get me in on auditions for film and television. This resulted in an audition on Tuesday for Day's Of Our Lives. And it worked just like it does for all my other, more experienced, actor friends: My agent got the audition and called my manager, my manager called me, I auditioned, the casting director called my agent, who called my manager, who called me to tell me I got a call back, and so on. Now, I didn't book the role... but it felt like a success regardless. I have a team! It's going to be great.

2008-03-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

And now it's time for a quick update on "What's Ryan Been Reading??"

March GQ:

Fun statistic: For those of you who remember my GQ-reading-ritual, this month I tore out 78 two sided advertisements, or 156 total ads. That is from a 322 page magazine. 48% of my magazine is ADVERTISEMENTS. Ridiculous. But I love it anyway... it's still a great magazine AND I like the independence from consumerism I feel when I get a new edition and sit down to tear out all those pages.

Things you might like: If you want me to make copies of any of this, and send it to you, just let me know...

- Article on Hilary loosing Iowa

- Article on Mitt Romney's campaign... kind of irrelevant now, unless he ends up as VP on the ticket.

- FASCINATING article about nuclear power and Three Mile Island. Really, really interesting. See quotes below...

QUOTES:

"Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances." - Thomas Jefferson p. 188

On critics of her new rock collaboration, Actress Zooey Deschanel "I'm not sure who these 'some people' are, but they sound petty. I don't think I'm very interested in them." (I love that)

"...France, which remains one of the last European nations to embrace nuclear power and currently produces nearly 80 percent of it's total electricity that way. (Providing France, incidentally, with the cleanest air in Europe, the lowest electrical costs, and the greatest percentage of electrical independence, not to mention $4 billion a year in electrical exports.)" - Nuclear power article p. 311

Now from "The Audacity of Hope" - pages 63-69 Obama writes about how impossible it seems for politicians to authentically talk about, and function with, values in general.

"I often wonder what makes it so difficult for politicians to talk about values in ways that don't appear calculated or phony (p. 63)..." He points to Empathy as a major factor in whether or not someone possesses "...the quality of authenticity, of being who you say you are, of possessing a truthfulness that goes beyond words... [Empathy] is the heart of my moral code, and it is how I understand the Golden Rule - not simply a call to sympathy or charity, but as something more demanding, a call to stand in somebody else's shoes and see through their eyes." (p.66)

PLEASE READ THIS, I'm going to take the time to type it, soooo...

SO, does he put this into practice?

Democratic Debate in Ohio

The debate opened with Brian Williams presenting both a clip of Hilary giving an angry press conference about a Health Care mailing Obama did, and a photograph that was leaked on the internet of Obama in native garb from a country he was visiting. The blog site said that the photo came from Hilary’s camp. It was a very strong opening opportunity for conflict/a fight between the candidates. Hilary responded about the mailing and talked about health care, then Williams asked about the photo.

Brian Williams to Senator Clinton: “…Can you say, unequivocally, that it did not (come from your camp)?”

Sen. Clinton: “Well, so far as I know it did not. And I certainly know nothing about it, and have made it clear that that’s not the kind of behavior that I condone or expect from the people who work in my campaign…”

Brian Williams: “Senator Obama, your response.”

Sen. Obama: “Well, first of all, I take Senator Clinton at her word. That she knew nothing about the photos. So I think that’s something we can set aside. I do want to focus on the issue of health care, because Senator Clinton has suggested that the flier that we put out, that the mailing we put out, was inaccurate. Now keep in mind that I’ve consistently said that I think Senator Clinton’s got a good health care plan. I think I have a good healthcare plan. I think mine is better. But I’ve said that 95% of our healthcare plan is similar. I have endured, over the course of this campaign, repeated negative mail from Senator Clinton, in Iowa, in Nevada, and other places, suggesting that I want to leave 15 million people out. According to Senator Clinton, that is accurate. I dispute it, and I think it is inaccurate. On the other hand, I don’t fault Senator Clinton for wanting to point out what she thinks is an advantage to her plan.”

2008-02-22T12:07:00.001-08:00

I don't know a ton about politics, but in the last 4 months I've amassed more interest in the changing political landscape than all of my lifetime's previous inklings of interest combined.

This week, after McCain's win in Wisconsin, he began his combat on Sen Obama by saying "I will work hard to make sure Americans aren't deceived by an eloquent but empty call for change."

While I've been open about my support for Sen. Obama, I HAVE found myself wondering about the positives and negatives of a general call for Change. On the one hand, Americans at large aren't inclined to listening to long, detailed, explicit diatribes on how to create change. We like sound bites, slogans, and quippy comebacks. So anyone playing in this ball field, is subject to some of those rules in order to get people on their team. A candidate sort of HAS to be general in order publicize. They all do it: Clinton is "Help make history" - a clear play on her draw as a feminist. McCain is boiled down to war-hero and experience. Huckabee is the pastor - a favorite for the Christian religious right.

But when you have to operate with generalities, you open yourself up to this type of criticism that McCain brings forth about Obama: that you're being too general. And if it were any other year, I probably would have heard that quote and found myself agreeing to some small degree; all I see on the news is clip after clip of Obama calling for change. And that's because, if you're an intern at a news office, and you're clipping portions of footage of a rally for the 5 o'clock news, you pick the byte that sums it up...

SO, Is the call for change "empty"? Is it, as that quote implies, just an idea that people are getting all worked up over, without any substance?

In order to answer that for myself, I've been reading the Audacity of Hope. And here are some things I've discovered (although I'm not finished with the book yet):

1.) This call for change is extremely well researched and thought-out. Obama begins the book with a historical look at where the country has gone politically in the last 50 years - especially after Reagan - and the way that this has resulted in polarized partisanship. He very clearly looks back at how our country has changed and uses that as a backdrop for the awareness of how change could happen.

2.) The call for change is a call for the country at large - not one targeted at the Republicans. He sees the errors in the political machine go big... that we're all involved in. "In distilled form, though, the explanations of both the right and the left have become mirror images of each other. They are stories of conspiracy, of America being hijacked by an evil cabal. Like all good conspiracy theories, both tales contain just enough truth to satisfy those predisposed to believe in them, without admitting any contradictions that might shake up those assumptions. Their purpose is not to persuade the other side but to keep their bases agitated and assured of the rightness of their respective causes - and lure just enough new adherents to beat the other side into submission."

3.) The call for change is general, because the change HAS TO BE GENERAL. Duh. That seems like such an obvious statement. We've boiled presidential candidates down to a list of policies - or worse - to a list of things we just do or don't like about them (I.e. "I won't vote for someone with the same name as Osama bin laden." yes, I've had someone say that to me). But a President of the world's greatest superpower has to be able to see a larger vision of what COULD BE. And that idea, of a country that is not so divided, would be a change that would dramatically affect every policy we have.

4.) Whether or not the call for Change is empty has been, and will be, proven by the way that Obama responds TO that criticism. HIS criticism of the Republican party is largely based in how it has made the chasm between left and right dramatically wider; because that is how it maintains power. Fundamentalism (not Christian, or even political... just "fundamentalism" in general) is ALWAYS more powerful if it can convince those under it's umbrella to fight harder, listen less, dig in their heels, and oppose at all costs. This is exactly what will happen after the primaries. And the temptation, if Obama is nominated, will be to play by those rules. "Ultimately, though, I believe any attempt by Democrats to pursue a more sharply partisan and ideological strategy misapprehends the moment we're in. I am convinced that whenever we exaggerate or demonize, oversimplify or overstate our case, we lose." To do so would nullify the message. It would be like a pacifist and just-war theorist arguing their cases. If the pacifist grabs his opponent's lapels and starts shouting, in order to make his point, then he has actually proven himself wrong.

Anyway - this blog entry is subject to the worst danger of the blog-o-sphere: that I'm just another bumbling idiot who puts their opinion up on the net like it's a credible source for real information. But this is what I've been thinking about... so here you go. I'll end with a passage I really liked from the 1st chapter of Audacity:

"Maybe the critics are right. Maybe there's no escaping our great political divide, an endless clash of armies, and any attempts to alter the rules of engagement are futile... We paint our faces red or blue and cheer our side and boo their side, and if it takes a late hit or cheap shot to beat the other team, so be it, for winning is all that matters.

But I don't think so. They are out there, I think to myself, those ordinary citizens who have grown up in the midst of all the political and cultural battles, but who have found a way - in their own lives at least - to make peace with their neighbors, and themselves. I imagine the white Southerner who growing up heard his dad talk about niggers this and niggers that but who has struck up a friendship with the black guys at the office and is trying to teach his own son different, who thinks discrimination is wrong but doesn't see why the son of a black doctor should get admitted into law school ahead of his own son. Or the former Black Panther who decided to go into real estate, bought a few buildings in the neighborhood, and is just as tired of the drug dealers in front of those buildings as he is of the bankers who won't give him a loan to expand his business. There's the middle-aged feminist who still mourns her abortion, and the Christian woman who paid for her teenager's abortion, and the millions of waitresses and temp secretaries and nurse's assistants and Wal-Mart associates who hold their breath every single month in the hope that they'll have enough money to support the children that they did bring into the world.

I imagine they are waiting for a politics with the maturity to balance idealism and realism, to distinguish between what can and cannot be compromised, to admit the possibility that the other side might sometimes have a point. They don't always understand the arguments between right and left, conservative and liberal, but they recognize the difference between dogma and common sense, responsibility and irresponsibility, between those things that last and those that are fleeting.

They are out there, waiting for Republicans and Democrats to catch up with them."

2008-02-01T08:38:00.000-08:00

Fitness Bootcamp (4th week of 6): I never thought I'd like it - but it's one of the coolest things I've done. Sarah and I are up at 6am, to the park with our mats by 6:25 and workout until 7:30am. It's the hardest workout I've had since highschool, but we're all out there together (about a dozen of us), the instructors are awesome, and when you finish you feel so great! It's interesting the way that health perpetuates health. Getting up and working out - instead of making me feel like I can treat my body however I want - makes me want to take care of myself.

I sound like I'm 50. How weird.

And how not-surprising. It isn't the first time.

2008-01-31T14:55:00.000-08:00

I think I've given up on finishing Europe. Right toward the end it got boring... that or I just don't like ending things. Probably both - more on my dislike for endings at another time.

Let's talk about my FAVORITE thing: Pete's coffee and a GQ magazine in Larchmont.

So over the last couple of months, I've discovered that I love walking down to Larchmont in the morning to get coffee and read. It has becoming a habit, with a number of quirky rituals, and I'd like to share some of them with you...

This is a phone photo of Larchmont. It is one of the very few non-LA, LA locations... It's a single street, about 2 blocks long, almost entirely pedestrian traffic, great restaurants, shops, a news stand, a stellar wine and cheese shop, and my favorite coffee/reading location.

When purchasing your morning coffee in Larchmont, one has numerous options: Starbucks, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Noah's bagels, Sam's bagles, Botega, and Pete's. Now I love bagles, but I can't eat them on an actor diet. And nothing against Starbucks, but I'm just enough of a trendy brooding artist type, to refuse to be a regular trendy brooding Starbucks customer. Botega's is owned by rude people. And Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf gets direct sunlight... So Pete's is the best choice.

It is on the east side of the street, so in the morning it's always shaded (important for a boy from Colorado who doesn't like too much heat). And there are tables outside - usually full by 9am, but if you get there before that, you shouldn't have a problem. (Or rather, I shouldn't have a problem. I don't want you to go there and take my table.)

I always order a small drip coffee. I'm getting to know the employees - and a person would be hard pressed to find a cooler, more friendly group of people behind any counter in LA. I try to order from Cela or Pete (yep) who are both musicians, and both super awesome. My coffee costs $1.65. I add a splash of non-fat milk, at the counter, and two splendas once I've been seated at a table.

I always listen to my ipod when I drink/read. I guess I'm not as much of a trend breaker as I thought. Right now I'm on a serious Imogen Heap kick. And I usually take two forms of reading material: one I should read, and one I want to. Usually it pairs off something like this: Brothers Karamazov and GQ, or VARIETY and Harry Potter, or LA Times and New Moon (by Stephenie Meyer... my current guilty pleasure, about vampires).

It's worth noting here, my GQ ritual. GQ is a great magazine. It's not perfect, but for my likes and personality, it's a pretty close fit. Culture, fashion, wine, politics, music, etc. Skewed a little more left than I usually go... but whatever. I live in LA. I ALWAYS read each GQ the same way. The first day I get the magazine, I sit down and tear out all the double paged ads. Today there were 19, (19 actual pages, so 38 numbered pages, out of 178 total in the magazine. I don't want to look at that crap) and 3 of those little cardstock inserts that fall out when you flip the pages. Also, I tear out the cologne ads and save them. They go in my sock drawer for obvious reasons. Today there were two... which is a significantly smaller number than normal. I guess after Christmas their sales must go down. This is ALL I do on the first day. I "clean" the magazine.

On the second day I set aside to read, I go through and read all of the short thematic pieces - Usually a page on wine, seasonal fashion, movies coming out, etc. I dog ear anything I want to remember or tear out. Then I spend each subsequent day, until I'm finished with the magazine, reading 1-2 editorials per sitting. These I also dog ear in case I want to reference Huckabee's interview with friends or a piece on Kanye or a story about a PTSD Vietnam Vet (below). Then I patiently wait for the next magazine to come.

One of the coolest things about this time, is that it makes me significantly more productive throughout the rest of the day. Any time I've lost by sitting and reading, I make up quickly because on these days I'm more excited and energized.

When I finish this edition of GQ, I'll post my favorite parts. And if anyone wants copies, I'll post em :)

2007-12-10T23:26:00.000-08:00

Day 12

Friday, November 2nd, 2007

Ljubljana, Lake Bled, and Celje - Slovenia

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Got up on Friday morning and Brooke, Sarah and I headed north about 40 minutes to Lake Bled. It is a quaint little town that sits at the base of the Alps, with a lake, a castle on a cliff overlooking the lake, and a church out on an island - what more could you ask for? In the summer the lake is warm enough to swim in - but we just went for a long walk around.

Bled Castle on the cliff...

Living in California for 2 years now, I've started to miss the seasons. So you can understand why I'd be excited about the fall leaves and colors :)

Old house, again the castle in the background...

That evening we drove back down to Ljubljana and picked up Jonny and continued on to another city about 1.5 hours away called Celje (sell-yay - Brooke, did I spell that correctly?). The missionaries in that area had started a Summer English Camp to teach Slovene teens English. They had a follow-up event that coincided with the Holiday; a Chestnut Picnic

Now, seeing as how Sarah and I had never eaten an actual chestnut, we were a bit unclear on what a picnic of said chestnuts entails. Basically, it is like a pizza party, with chips and drinks, but instead of pizza as the main entrée, you roast a crapload of chestnuts until their soft inside - kind of the consistency of a baked potato.

(Sarah with chestnuts)

They trained us well and we ate our fill.

(Ryan with chestnuts)

Roasted chestnuts get charred black ash on the outside - this leads to blackened fingers - that leads to the chestnut picnic version of a food fight where you smear one another's faces with said ash.

(Brooke with chestnuts...)
We also played some English games/mixers. We had paper taped on our backs and as we'd walk around and have discussions (in English, thankfully) we would write encouraging adjectives about the person on their back. The kids pretty quickly learned that Sarah and I are actors in Hollywood... which factored into most of the conversations.

(Jonny... with chestnuts)

After about 30 minutes, we placed all the paper into a pile and read the list of adjectives aloud, then tried to guess who's paper it was. When mine came up it said "Barely famous" at the top and everyone looked straight at Sarah and I and started laughing! Jonny was leading the group and said, "Ok, so let's have a quick discussion about what the word 'barely' technically means."

I saved that paper. Regardless of whether or not I ever am famous, it will be a good reminder to stay grounded. After all... isn't everyone pretty much "barely famous"?

Will someone from OKC tell James Sturgis that I found his younger, slovene brother? I might have creeped this kid out because I kept taking photos of him and telling Sarah "He looks SO much like James."

Afterwards the 4 of us went to get Kebap - which is not a Turkish Pop Group as Sarah and I guessed, but rather a gyro type late-night chicken sandwich/pita thing. SUPER good. Especially when you've had nothing but chestnuts all night.

Also, Brooke's hubcaps got stolen. A bummer of an ending to an otherwise cool evening. But more on that tomorrow...

2007-12-09T21:29:00.000-08:00

Thursday, November 1st, 2007 - Day 1 in Ljubljana, Slovenia

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Ok, time to get back into this. Today is going to be quick, some photos from our first day in Slo with Brooke.

Brooke lives with another Missionary named Hailey in an apartment inside Ljubljana (Loo - blee - ahna, the capital of Slovenia, the northern-most country of former Yugoslavia: here's a good map http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/images/europe/slovenia.jpg). Sarah stayed with the girls, and I stayed with Daniel Psaute who is the Coordinator of Nazarene missions in Slovenia, and Johnny - another missionary and Brooke's new fiance - across town.

Got up that morning and Brooke, Sarah, and I walked into the town square to head up to the castle. They were repaving the square; on the hill behind these workers you can see the castle up at the very top. The bridge just to the right of that white tent is the bridge you see in this photo below, which I took back in 2005.

From the castle we had a great view of Ljubljana and the surrounding countryside.

More of Ljubljana...

That afternoon/evening we went outside of the city to take some engagement photos of Johnny and Brooke. Beautiful, beautiful country. Also, because it was All Saints Day, every church was ringing the bells all day... and there were little churches EVERYWHERE. At first, cool. After 2,723 rings, shouting at each other above the noise... kind of annoying.

The culture in Slovenia (and most of Eastern Europe from what we saw) does not really celebrate Halloween much. But during All Saints, there are a number of really cool traditions we were able to see. One is eating copious amounts of roasted chestnuts... more on that later. Another is the lighting of these candles for deceased family members. Each candle is placed inside a red plastic vase and set around the chapel in a cemetery (like this photo) or at the actual grave (see below).

One problem with this tradition is that the candle eventually melts the plastic enough for it to touch the flame, then it catches on fire. They place lots of little water pots around so you can douse a vase if it catches on fire.... but the whole place smells like burning plastic.

I will probably get cancer from all those dioxins. But hey! That's what traveling is all about........ crazy Slovene dioxins.

More tomorrow!

2007-11-30T08:49:00.001-08:00

Rainy day blogs, pensiveness, the "Then" and the Nazis

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This blogging thing is getting into my blood. It may finally be the way to get Ryan Dobson to write consistently. I wonder why that is? Maybe because I feel like it's journaling, but into a conversation. The assumption being that people are reading this... and you know what they say about assuming...

I love rain - and the typical absence of it in SoCal intensifies that feeling. I was walking back from coffee this morning, listening to Gold from the "Once" soundtrack (P.S. - a GREAT song to listen to if you're walking through the rain, holding a warm cup of coffee and wearing a corduroy sportcoat), wondering, "What is it that about rain that I like so much?"

I think it's like Creation being contemplative. It's nature way of walking into a little hole-in-the-wall gallery, sipping bordeaux from a nearly bowl-sized glass, and listening to neo-folk music on an acoustic guitar... Rain makes me feel like painting even though I'm not a painter. And all this is achieved by the environment's grey brooding...

That's the context in which Sarah and I drove up on Mauthausen Concentration Camp (Mot-house-en) on Sunday, October 28th, 2007. I'm going to tell that story now and I'm going to ask that you try to emulate my context as well as you can. It may not be raining where you are - but you can imitate what rain does: put on that song, turn off the TV, close the shades. Whatever. I suggest "Home" by Foo Fighters... but you do whatever you need to.

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So, Mauthausen. It was grey and cold and drizzly and exactly how it should be when you go somewhere like that. Mauthausen sits on a green, Austrian, rolling hillside. Because of the twisting two-lane road, you don't see it until you're there; it's grey stone walls looming at the crest of the knoll. The parking lot sits directly in front and was almost empty, as it was the lull in the tourist season. Next to the parking lot, the respectfully minimalistic ticket office was empty as well... we saw neither lines nor other visitors. After receiving our audio guides, we walked toward the main entrance to the camp.

When you visit a place like Mauthausen now, you anticipate a strange mix of imbued reverence and intrinsic touristy-ness; because it is simultaneously a memorial to the Holocaust and a visitor destination. But that day it was as little a sightseeing memorial as possible - it was a ghost town.

In January 1945, the camps, directed from the central office in Mauthausen, contained roughly 85,000 inmates. The death toll remains unknown, although most sources place it between 122,766 and 320,000 for the entire complex. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauthausen-Gusen_concentration_camp)

We walked through the main gate and the camp was truly empty, the way you feel it should be.

I'm not sure how to describe this... I wrote in my journal that day: "I am a person who will try, but will be fundamentally incapable of understanding the Holocaust." But it was like God was trying to help me conceptualize the gravitas of this place. It was cold - you could see your breath and we kept blowing on our hands to keep them warm.

Originally a prison... [Mauthausen was] converted into a Concentration Camp for the prisoners who were not to be rehabilitated: most died in the Camp. Until death, prisoners were used for backbreaking work in the Stone Quarries... (source: http://www.shoaheducation.com/camps/mauthausen.html)

Outside this barrack window, skeletal, forgotten, tortured people stood in the cold rain for hours on end - typically for no reason other than torture. At one point, not long ago, human beings died, outside this window, because of their race or sexuality or political affiliations.

Facing the barracks were the "medical" buildings, housing the gas chamber and crematoriums.

As we walked around the camp and listened to our audio guides, we heard accounts of women being brought into the camp and raped by the SS officers; about prisoners who were stripped, shaved, disinfected, and made to live outside in "quarantine" for weeks; about people lured outside their barracks on the pretence of having their photo taken, only to be lined up and shot.

It kind of seems like I'm being melodramatic now, but with just a little attempt at empathy, the entire experience is overwhelming. You can feel the weight of the place.

After the gas chambers, the audio guide ends by leading you out through the main gate onto the grassy hill outside. As you walk, it tells you about the camp's liberation:

The camps of Mauthausen-Gusen were the last to be liberated during the World War II. On May 5th, 1945, the camp at Mauthausen was approached by soldiers of the 41st Recon Squad of the US 11th Armored Division, 3rd US Army. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauthausen-Gusen_concentration_camp)

(photo from wikipedia - US tanks entering the camp on May 6th, 1945)

As we listened to the account of the camp's liberation, we walked through the gate pictured above and the most amazing thing happened; the clouds cleared and the sun came out. It was the first time we'd seen the sun since we'd arrived in Europe a week earlier. It was also the first time we'd really seen just how beautiful the surrounding Austrian countryside could be.

The photo above is taken just outside that gate, looking out over the stone quarry where prisoners-made-slaves died by the thousands.

Outside the camp, every nation represented by one of their imprisoned citizens has built a memorial to those who perished inside.

Again, I have to be careful to not over-state this... I'm hyper-sensative to the fact that I'm a well fed, very free, white American male... But walking out of that camp - the desolation and depravity and despair that it represents - and into the vibrantly colorful hillside, was a hallmark experience in my life.

It is remarkably easy for us to see these atrocities as "then", which would never happen in the "now." But those were all just normal people - the Nazis: fundamentalists who were willing to put the importance of an ideology above the value of another person... something we see often today. The Prisoners: Jews, Czechs, Homosexuals, Women and outspoken opponents of the Nazi regime who were victimized by a cycle of violence that cycloned out of control.

And you stand there, where those people stood, you realize how possible it is; how not-so-far-away we are from the "Then."

But then, there's also hope. There's also the sun breaking through the clouds. There's also the other side of the gate, looking out on green fields and farms and autumn colors.

They will beat their swords into plowshares

And their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not take up sword against nation,

nor will they train for war anymore.

Every man will sit under his own vine

and under his own fig tree,

and no one will make them afraid,

for the LORD Almighty has spoken. (Micah 4:3)

2007-11-28T00:56:00.000-08:00

I promised some additional "artsy" photos from Vienna. I'm to tired to type much, so just enjoy these...

early morning from our room.

old time elevator

the market

our bathtub... just kidding. the market.

(but why do I think swimming in those would be fun?)

walking back up to our place.

the opera house

2007-11-24T16:57:00.000-08:00

Sunday, October 28th - Wednesday, 31st: Vienna, Austria

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Sunday morning we left Hallstatt and drove to Mauthausen Concentration Camp. That experience is something I'm going to write about as it's own blog entry... And I'm not going to do that now. So I'll skip over it and blog it out of order - for those of you who are Type-A personalities, I'm sorry. Also, these are all fun photos... I'll post some artsy ones of Vienna in a day or so.

So after Mauthausen, we drove down the Autobaun into Vienna. At one point, when it wasn't raining, when Sarah was asleep, when it was downhill and the wind was at my back, I opened up our Volkswagon Golf and got it to 180km/hr. Now I can mark "pedal to the metal on the Autobaun" off my list of things to do before I die(even if it was in a Volkswagon Golf).

We arrived in Vienna that evening and it was raning...

We took the subway into the town square and headed to our housing - a sweet little Austrian lady who rented out rooms in her flat. While she was super, super nice... our room was a narrow, long closet. We had separate twin beds (see one in the bottom right corner of this photo) and the room was so narrow that we couldn't put the beds side by side. Also the place smelled like smoke and old coffee... or maybe if you smoked coffee flavored cigarettes... or like if you made coffee from old cigarette butts...

The next morning we started out doing a tour of the city center via tram. We got off at certain stops that looked interesting, like this park with statues of famous musicians.

There were a couple of little old ladies taking photos in front of this statue before us. When I stood in front of it and posed like Straus, they started laughing so hard we got kind of concerned about them. But then, that happens sometimes when I'm around: my comedy genius blows people's minds... especially old people.

That night we dressed up to go to the opera. The Vienna Opera House sells Standing Room Only tickets for only 3 euros! So we got to go see classical opera in Vienna - how cool!

Come to find out, the opera was really long, and in latin, and we were standing, and some of the people.... smelled.

So this is us, leaving the opera, 30 minutes after it started.

We found our way to an Italian restaurant named Danieli and had better Italian food than we've ever had in Italy.

I don't care what anyone says. It is entirely possible to maintain your coolness while wearing a money belt...as demonstrated in this photo.

On our way home that night, we walked by this high fashion store and found a mannequin that made us laugh. She's the High Society I-drank-too-much-on-my-way-to-the-opera-and-fell-down model. We named her Tami and we spent the rest of the evening coming up with things that drunk Tami would say like, "who put those stairs there?" and "don't judge me!"

The next morning we headed up bright and early - earlier than Tami would be getting up anyhow. This is the old-school elevator in our building.

We walked down to the farmers market and spent some time perusing. They have the most incredible selection of meats, cheeses, and produce I've ever seen.

We bought some of the freshly prepared food and made a picnic... hummus, cheese filled peppers and olives, and falafel.

Then we were on our way to Schonbrunn Palace - the seat of the Habsburg's empire

Staying hot while staying hydrated...

That afternoon, when we arrived back in the city center, we went to Demel - the Tiffany's of chocolate places in Vienna. Fortunately, I like my sacher torte dry, just like I like my humor.

So we found out that the Opera house was having a ballet (instead of an Opera) that night, and decided to go back for tickets again. This is us sitting in line waiting for tickets.

I have a low tolerance for lines.

This is us waiting for the show to start (the stage curtain is behind us). I took of photo of Sarah and then she took one of me and we photoshoped them together...

It was a beautiful show and we stayed for the whole thing! Then we went to bed.

The next day was our last morning in Vienna. We decided to do a little shopping, and we started at an antique book shop. In Europe, the word "Antiques" mean items much older than in the US. We found some awesome books, but none we could afford.

For lunch we treated ourselves to our favorite Austrian food: The street vendor weinerschnitzel. For those of you who like a great dog... this is the dog to end all dogs. They take a perfect bun and puncture it with a warming rod. While they grill your weiner, the bun warms from the inside out. Then they put your condiments inside, slip the meat into it, and grill the whole thing. Just trust me - it tastes really great.

Our friends Johnny and Brooke, who are missionaries in Slovenia, drove up to Vienna and picked us up to bring us down to their hometown: Ljubljana. On the way, we stopped in a small town known for their restaurants and family owned vineyards, and had a great, traditional Austrian meal.

Our last event in Austria - with Brooke and Johnny! We ate family-style, trying a variety of unknown dishes.

2007-11-21T09:23:00.000-08:00

Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday morning - Hallstatt, Austria

So, needless to say, Austria is beautiful. We spent two nights in a little tiny town in the Alps called Hallstatt. It was born out of the Celtic salt mining industry and now is basically a little tourist spot nestled between the mountains and a lake.

It ended up being a great time to relax because, come to find out, we didn't have much choice. All-Saint's Day and Weekend is a pretty big holiday in Eastern Europe. So everyone in the town had left and almost all the shops were closed. We felt a little duped... see photo.

We stayed at a B&B - no Jana and Jan, but it was nice. We did a lot of relaxing and reading. Plus I did a bunch of photography for a mixed medium series that Laine (my brother) and I are planning. More on that in the future...

This is where the Hallstatt Hobbits live. They are a very cordial, slide loving people.

I've been in CA so long, I'd forgotten what snow looked like.

There were only a few restaurants open (the VERY local ones... where we walked in and everyone turned around and looked at us). At dinner (and lunch) you order beer with your meal... everyone does. You can order water, but it's more expensive! I don't really like beer, so this took some getting used to. But, if you're going to learn to like it, Austria/Czech is a great place to do it! They know their beers... "Dunkel" is dark... that's my fav.

2007-11-19T17:09:00.000-08:00

Friday morning, Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic and then a drive to Hallstat, Austria.

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Oh to wake up to this every morning...

Jana, who I mentioned in my previous entry, is a master hostess. That food is JUST for Sarah and I. We woke up at 7am and I opened our door to pick up the food Jana told us would be waiting. When I saw this, I assumed it was for all the guests they were housing (3 rooms total) and I had to tip toe, in my pajamas, up to the third floor to determine that there was, in fact, two additional breakfast spreads identical to ours in front of the other two rooms. Wow.

I treat Sarah to breakfast in bed like this in LA every day. If she tells you otherwise, it's part of the way she verbally abuses me around other people... but at least she's not hitting me as much.

After breakfast we walked up to Krumlov Castle to sign up for a tour... This is looking out over the town of Krumlov.

And this is me, pretending that I own the place. Apparently royalty walked like this... or at least I imagine that they did.

The Vltava River flows through, or rather, AROUND, Krumlov. Penzionek Olsakovsky is down at the end of that bend on the right side of the river.

Apparently floating the river in an intertube is about the best way to see Krumlov. This would only be feasible in sometime other than November... We were forced to walk.

some shots from around Krumlov...

Jan, Jana's husband, was able to drive down from Prague early that morning - so we were able to meet him and they invited us to go to lunch at one of their favorite spots. This is on our walk to the restaurant: daughter Jarmilka running along on the cobblestones. Effortlessly cute.

The 5 of us at lunch - without question THE highlight of our trip. They were wonderful friends that made it very hard to leave Krumlov.

We tore ourselves away from the Olsakovskys and left Krumlov feeling remarkably ambivalent: On the one hand, seeing a beautiful place like this and meeting wonderful people like those is what makes traveling incredible... but then you don't want to leave. (this is one of my favorite photos from the trip. Click on it to see it larger.)

We drove out of the Czech Republic and into Austria arriving just before dark in a little town called Hallstat. We pulled in just before dark so I don't have many photos... but here's a good one to end on:

2007-11-18T00:28:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know. It hasn't been updated and I'm sorry. But I promise we'll have new stuff up here on Sunday. Thank you, to those of you who asked... it keeps me on task.

2007-11-13T22:58:00.000-08:00

Thursday, morning in Prague and drive to Krumlov...

We arose bright and early to head up to Prague Castle for some short film footage of me, in my period costume, at the Golden Lane. The Castle grounds open up at 5:00am and don't start charging until 9:00, which was perfect for our schedule (and budget). However, we had not planned on how weird it would be to walk past the castle guards when there were no other tourists in the place. It's a lot like Buckingham Palace where the guards stand out front and don't move or say anything to you. So we walked by, between two guards, me in my costume, and they didn't stop us... however, when we got back to the Golden Lane and had been shooting for a few minutes, a guard showed up and just walked back and forth past us; watching us but not saying anything. This is a photo of Sarah posing like we were normal tourists... not sure what we were trying to prove. But we didn't get arrested, so it worked.

After the Castle, we headed back to the airport where we picked up our rental car to drive down to the southern edge of the Czech Republic; a town called Cesky Krumlov (chess-key kroom-laow). This is me, in my Eastern European garb (scarf) saying "Ciao." (If you've seen Eddie Izzard, you understand)

On our way to Krumlov we saw a bunch of signs for castles and decided to stop at one. We were the only people in the parking lot and they didn't have any English tours so we just walked around the outside... and played in the leaves.

After about a 3 hour trip, we arrived in Krumlov and drove around the town for about 45 minutes trying to figure out how to get into it... medieval towns were not built for convenient tourist entrance. We finally arrived at Penzionek Olsakovsky; our B&B. We met Jana, our awesome hostess, who gave us tons of great tips on restaurants and getting around Krumlov, and then showed us our cozy room.

We really clicked with Jana, who lives in Prague with her husband and two year old daughter, and comes down to Krumlov when they have guests. We thought it would be fun to leave a note and ask her if she'd like to join us for dinner. When we returned from our afternoon exploring, we found a note on our door accepting our invitation. We went out that night and had a great time dining and hearing about life growing up in Eastern Europe. Jana even told us about being part of the Velvet Revolution when the Czechoslovakia declared it's independence from the communist party. We had drinks at a local pub and then went for a late night walk around the Krumlov Castle Wall...

I took these while the three of us were out walking around and talking about life...

2007-11-12T20:49:00.000-08:00

October 24th - Our second full day in Prague.

I got up early because I couldn't sleep... 9 hour difference does that I suppose. And went out to take some early morning photos. Here are a couple.

Sarah and I had breakfast and then walked up to Prague Castle for a tour. Seeing sites like that is always incredible; but we have low tolerance for large tour groups so we usually quit early.

We rode the metro (gotta love public transportation) back into the city center for lunch back at our favorite restaurant (cabbage soup and pig's leg! Except no pig's leg this time).

We then went to the Tyn Cathedral and walked back up into Josefov (Yo-sef-ohv) for a tour of the Spanish Synagogue. On the way we saw a bride and groom taking a carriage ride (or is it bride and bride?? We weren't sure... you decide). And while I was taking this photo, saw a taxi driver park, get out, walk up to the wall of a building and relieve himself. We learned two things from this experience: 1.) never shake the hand of a taxi driver, and 2.) even a tux can't make a mullet look good.

For dinner we got a recommendation from a local to get out of the city center and take a bus east toward an area called Zizkov (zsh-ee-zsh-kov) where the food is less touristy. So we boarded the #133 and went into the area of Prague that most people don't see. It was great food, and very interesting, but we definitely stood out a lot more there.

We headed back for an early night in because we planned to get up at 4:30am and head up to the castle to film some stock footage for a short film I want to put together (when would we get a chance for footage like that in the US!?)

2007-11-12T00:50:00.000-08:00

We're finally back from our 2.5 week trip to Europe and now it's time to share our adventures. Over the next few days we'll update this page with another segment of our trip. Feel free to peruse!

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We flew from LAX to Zurich and then a short flight into Prague. Here's a photo of our experience of Zurich airport: silent. Even in places where the airport was packed, it was silent. But then, that's the Swiss for you... silent. And that's what makes them such deadly assassins and remarkable watch makers....

We arrived in Prague on the night of October 22nd and shared a shuttle with a Canadian breakdancer who had just moved from the arctic circle where she taught inuit teenagers how to pop and lock. Sarah showed her some new moves but I didn't get any photos of that...

We helped our friend of the North find a hostel and then we checked into a little apartment on the far side of the Charles Bridge, just below Prague Castle.

Here's a photo from outside our window - perfect cold, cloudy weather.

On our first full day in Prague, which turned out to be the coldest day of our entire trip, we started the morning at a café with dort a kava. Little did we know, this was actually something that people typically ordered in the afternoon. It was, literally, a cup of espresso with a piece of chocolate cake. Mmmm…breakfast=dessert. Next time, read the fine print on the specials. The fine print in Czech....

Next, we explored Josefov, the old Jewish section of the city. From an old cemetery with topsy-turvy tombstones to incredible synagogues, we were able to explore the history of a group of people that was tragically affected by World War II.

For lunch, we found a recommended restaurant with AMAZING cabbage soup in a bread bowl. Truly, we wish we had the recipe. We had also heard the restaurant was famous for it's pork leg, so we ordered it. We didn't realize it is, literally, a pig's leg…see attached. (a couple of local ladies couldn't stop laughing when they saw our reaction to the pig leg being set before us).

We meandered around Old Town a little more during the afternoon, then gave in to the jet lag and took a nap.

For dinner, we went to a recommended restaurant called El Centro. Not sure why, but the empanadas just didn’t have that charming “Czech feel”.

Even though it was a cold evening in October, the city stayed alive until quite late. We were able to see a bit of the night life and even visit the touristy statue on the Charles Bridge. Here's a few bonus photos.

More tomorrow!

2005-12-26T22:53:00.000-08:00

I was cleaning out my t-shirt drawer... and I had finally had enough. For years and years I have had this empty spot in me... this feeling that it COULD be better. Tshirts shouldn't be so wrinkled - so poorly folded. I fold them one way and they get a crease down the center... I fold them another and the bottom ends up wrinkled or they don't fith in the drawer well or... AHHH.

This chinese woman changed my life. href="http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/fold.php">

visited

2005-12-23T11:58:00.000-08:00

visited
Originally uploaded by ryandobs.

Avesbury Stone Circle - England 2005

2005-12-23T11:56:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I'm doing this