I know that everyone is totally over Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight, and the like, but I have decided that since the dude was on my top Five List, I am allowing myself one short blog entry on a fallen hero. This is probably going to be a little rambled, but whatever. No one is really reading this blog anyway. I will try not to be generic.
Three of my favorite HL performances (there is another one that I will mention later that I loved, but since I much more enjoyed the movie itself than Heath's actual performance, I am not giving it a paragraph here).......
1. I started thinking about the topic yesterday because Brokeback Mountain was on TV again. What I would consider to be his most amazing performance. What really struck me is that Heath was able to convince the audience of a 20 year age progression just through his voice. He made it scratchier and gruffer as the time went on. The motivation was probably the character's smoking, and just overall frustration with his situation, but Heath convinced me that he was a little older every time he was on screen... just by talking. Notice how they had to make a lot of changes to Jake G to age him: clothes; facial hair; etc. Clearly not as talented.
2. It's funny to think that the same guy also was in Ten Things I hate about You. Now, I usually don't give acting props to anyone in a cheesy teen movie (as much as I love that genre) but I want to comment on the performance that pretty much gave him his start in the USA. He was damn good. I felt that watching him in that was like watching him be his bizarro self. Especially that scene where he is dancing around the football field. Heath was always very private and standoffish with the media, and I would never have believed him to make a public spectacle in real life. However, the way Patrick Verona (and yes...that really was the dude's name in the movie) was a little alternative, and intuitive. That combined with the kept Aussie accent, made me think that character was the Heath Ledger you would talk to if he wasn't famous, and you just met him at a bar.
3. O.K. a little generic, but I don't think I can end this blog without talking about the Joker. He really rocked that Dark Knight role. I was terrified during the movie. I know everyone is talking Oscar, and yada yada, but there is merit to all that talk. Not to ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, but I think only Heath could have convinced us that the Joker was truly a psychopath while wearing a nurse's outfit. True Story.
And, I hope he does get nominated. Not only because I believe Heath to have taken that role to an unbelievable place, and the rest of the movie is awesome, but partly because it is a huge hit. It's time for movies that people actually see to get Oscar nods. There I said it. I enjoyed the Academy Awards last year, but I did have some issues with the nominees. I mean, I love great indies, and I do respect the performances, but, if we keep only celebrating actors in these little obscure films that only make 20 million, we are in danger of being prejudice against a movie just because it was a hit. And I say that if Heath Ledger does not get an Oscar nomination, that is exactly what has happen.
So to conclude, we did lose a legend in the making. I am not going to say that I feel sorry for him, because I don't. However you want to spin it, the guy was stupid and killed himself with too many drugs. Call it accidental. Call it whatever the hell you want. He got a bunch of prescriptions from a bunch of different doctors, but he was the one who took them all at the same time. Who I do feel sorry for is everyone, including myself, who was going to be waiting to see what was next. If he were still with us, that Joker performance would have shot him to the top, and his pick of roles.
Such a shame......so all that is left to say is good bye...specifically to Patrick Veronea, The Joker, Ennis Del Mar, Casanova, Sonny Grotowski, Gabriel Martin, and of course, my personal favorite character: Sir Urlich von Litchenstien. (Told you I would let you know...guess the movie)
P.S. Kudos to anyone who caught the quote in the title of this blog entry.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
It's GossipGirl with a Conscience
....and a Karaoke Machine.
So, I just watched (and rocked out to) High School Musical 2 this morning. And it was awesome. (reminder: I am 16 at heart).
Who could not love the campy, clean fun that is the most watched, non sports related cable television event to date? I got so into the shiny colorful setting of the cheesy New Mexico suburban country club, I was actually sitting up in bed, and swaying to the beat in this montage of broadway choreography, and early 'NSYNC channeling production numbers.
I may have enjoyed the first High School Musical. Not enough to watch this one on the day it was released, but enough to put it on my netflix list. However, the deuce was so much more everything for me. Maybe it was because I wasn't expecting much. Maybe it was that I already knew the characters. Maybe it is just because it was quite possibly the cheesiest movie I have ever seen that did nothing to hide its own ridiculousness. In fact it celebrated it....with boas and basketballs.
Guess what.......I feel a list coming on.
Here goes. The things I just have to say about my recent viewing of HSM 2. (Sounds like a cruise ship!)
1. It is just so damn blatant about its political correctness.
So much so, that it almost makes the movie politically incorrect, due to all the stereotypes. Disney made sure that almost every person in this country between the ages of 11-17 could relate to someone in this movie. We have the cute, white, popular basketball star, who is not as confident and self assured as he seems on the outside. We have the quite, meditative Hispanic girl with the heart of gold. We have the young blond fashionista, who starts out selfish, bossy, and overbearing, but alas, comes around at the end. We have the bespectacled fine arts focused, and peudohippy dressing piano geek. We have a few black basketball players, one of which had a huge afro-like do because, "hey, its O.K. to want to keep it real". Throw them all in with the gratuitous Asian girl in the background; the chubby girl; the athlete who loves to cook, the black girl who's all up in everyone's business , but makes it seem like she's just self assured and full of advice, and you've got yourself a 'Tween Disney family hit.
I was actually waiting for the Muslim guy and the Indian girl (dots..not feathers) to come strutting into a scene followed by a kid doing dance circles in a wheelchair, but I guess they didn't want to overdo.
I have to mention my favorite character though: The totally fashion forward, overly feminine brother character who choreographs for the group, and only wears pastels. Disney may not have come right out and said he was gay, but come on. Considering the lack of a love interest storyline for him, and the scene where he throws a fit upon learning that he cannot wear the sequins "tikki warrior costume", I get it. I especially enjoyed the entire musical number dedicated to the fact that everyone is super surprised that he plays a sport. And I must say, while dressed completely in white (including white sweater vest) for the baseball game extravaganza, he heats it up with the best post modern "Micheal Jackson meets George Micheal" heart attack of a dance riff I have ever seen. Well, have ever seen in a guilty pleasure teen movie that is.
2. This movie made me feel young and old at the same time.
The "young" part is obvious. I want to feel like I am still in high school again. Let me clarify, I don't want to actually "be" in high school again, I just want to feel like it. I gotta tell you, I would be scared to death if I were back in high school.
(Warning: Random social rant coming on for the next paragraph.)
Its a whole different world. As much as I condemn a lot of the choices that I see highschoolers making these days, (I am not belittling the fact that although I do think teens today are a lot more unfocused; disrespectful; and think they can go through life with less accountability than we did) but I do recognize how much more difficult both emotionally and socially, high school must be now than it was 15 years ago. It's harder to get into and pay for college than ever. In this world of Youtube; Facebook; and camera phones, these kids live under a microscope. Its hard to live your life and make the mistakes that young people are bound to make, when a lot of times, every misstep has a chance of being public knowledge.
Back to the point.
I think we covered the "feeling young" part. Now the feeling old......I so did not enjoy that the actor who plays Troy's (the main guy) father was born in 1970. Seriously. He's 38!!!! That would be less than 5 years older than me.
Sidenote: I IMDBed him today because I thought he looked like this character that used to be on Queer as Folk (he wasn't the guy) but that's where I noticed his birthdate.
Of course that makes him 21 or 22 when he would have hypothetically had Troy, but come on. I still curse the day when, for the first time, actors and actresses (and sports stars for that matter) were younger than me. It was an all of the sudden weird moment around my 30th birthday. I was flipping through US Weekly, and it occurred to me...not everyone, but a lot of peeps, starring in the current movies were in their mid to late twenties...and I was no longer!
I don't think I am ready for the actors that play the parents of the main characters to be my age yet. But I guess it's next..........especially if I continue to watch a lot of teen movies.
Scary piece of trivia: Did you know that when Anne Bancroft starred in "The Graduate" she was only 36? I know she was playing a much older character, but wow. Mrs. Robinson was 3 years older than I am right now.
3. I bought into this movie because I love love.
(Shoutout to Ramsey's Friend Jamie for introducing me to that phrase. )
It's true.....I really love love. I get totally excited when people find eachother. (Well, when I like both the people...but that's another blog) Be it in real life, or on the big screen. Despite my sometimes seemingly cynical and occasional judgemental tendencies, I am a hopeless romantic at heart. Flowers; fireworks; grand gestures....bring it on.
Another sidestory: I am laughing at myself today because I may or may not have been slightly overserved this weekend, and I was hanging out with an old family friend of mine. Well, he introduced me to his new girlfriend, and the chick was pretty flippin' cool. In my state, if you will, I felt the need to tell her that they seems perfect for eachother, repeatedly saying (and I quote) that I "Loved love". Yeah. I also fell asleep on the chaise lounge outside on my porch waiting for the dog to do his business. I really hope neither of my neighbors saw.
Back to the latest point...High School Musical 2 is all about love: sweet, predictable, and simplistic. It's the singing and dancing side of love. What we all think 17 year old summer romances should be. Cosy picnics and innocent night swims. There was no sex, no drinking, and no screaming fights. There is a nemesis for a little drama, but she sees the light just in time to join the big show. It's corny, but I ate it up. Maybe because (to quote a cheesy romantic comedy from a couple years ago) "I'm looking for corny in my life."
I think I'll go to Target today to buy the HSM 2 soundtrack. These are just the type of songs that its fun to blast when driving around with the convertible top down.
High School Musical 3 comes out in October to the big screen. See you there.
So, I just watched (and rocked out to) High School Musical 2 this morning. And it was awesome. (reminder: I am 16 at heart).
Who could not love the campy, clean fun that is the most watched, non sports related cable television event to date? I got so into the shiny colorful setting of the cheesy New Mexico suburban country club, I was actually sitting up in bed, and swaying to the beat in this montage of broadway choreography, and early 'NSYNC channeling production numbers.
I may have enjoyed the first High School Musical. Not enough to watch this one on the day it was released, but enough to put it on my netflix list. However, the deuce was so much more everything for me. Maybe it was because I wasn't expecting much. Maybe it was that I already knew the characters. Maybe it is just because it was quite possibly the cheesiest movie I have ever seen that did nothing to hide its own ridiculousness. In fact it celebrated it....with boas and basketballs.
Guess what.......I feel a list coming on.
Here goes. The things I just have to say about my recent viewing of HSM 2. (Sounds like a cruise ship!)
1. It is just so damn blatant about its political correctness.
So much so, that it almost makes the movie politically incorrect, due to all the stereotypes. Disney made sure that almost every person in this country between the ages of 11-17 could relate to someone in this movie. We have the cute, white, popular basketball star, who is not as confident and self assured as he seems on the outside. We have the quite, meditative Hispanic girl with the heart of gold. We have the young blond fashionista, who starts out selfish, bossy, and overbearing, but alas, comes around at the end. We have the bespectacled fine arts focused, and peudohippy dressing piano geek. We have a few black basketball players, one of which had a huge afro-like do because, "hey, its O.K. to want to keep it real". Throw them all in with the gratuitous Asian girl in the background; the chubby girl; the athlete who loves to cook, the black girl who's all up in everyone's business , but makes it seem like she's just self assured and full of advice, and you've got yourself a 'Tween Disney family hit.
I was actually waiting for the Muslim guy and the Indian girl (dots..not feathers) to come strutting into a scene followed by a kid doing dance circles in a wheelchair, but I guess they didn't want to overdo.
I have to mention my favorite character though: The totally fashion forward, overly feminine brother character who choreographs for the group, and only wears pastels. Disney may not have come right out and said he was gay, but come on. Considering the lack of a love interest storyline for him, and the scene where he throws a fit upon learning that he cannot wear the sequins "tikki warrior costume", I get it. I especially enjoyed the entire musical number dedicated to the fact that everyone is super surprised that he plays a sport. And I must say, while dressed completely in white (including white sweater vest) for the baseball game extravaganza, he heats it up with the best post modern "Micheal Jackson meets George Micheal" heart attack of a dance riff I have ever seen. Well, have ever seen in a guilty pleasure teen movie that is.
2. This movie made me feel young and old at the same time.
The "young" part is obvious. I want to feel like I am still in high school again. Let me clarify, I don't want to actually "be" in high school again, I just want to feel like it. I gotta tell you, I would be scared to death if I were back in high school.
(Warning: Random social rant coming on for the next paragraph.)
Its a whole different world. As much as I condemn a lot of the choices that I see highschoolers making these days, (I am not belittling the fact that although I do think teens today are a lot more unfocused; disrespectful; and think they can go through life with less accountability than we did) but I do recognize how much more difficult both emotionally and socially, high school must be now than it was 15 years ago. It's harder to get into and pay for college than ever. In this world of Youtube; Facebook; and camera phones, these kids live under a microscope. Its hard to live your life and make the mistakes that young people are bound to make, when a lot of times, every misstep has a chance of being public knowledge.
Back to the point.
I think we covered the "feeling young" part. Now the feeling old......I so did not enjoy that the actor who plays Troy's (the main guy) father was born in 1970. Seriously. He's 38!!!! That would be less than 5 years older than me.
Sidenote: I IMDBed him today because I thought he looked like this character that used to be on Queer as Folk (he wasn't the guy) but that's where I noticed his birthdate.
Of course that makes him 21 or 22 when he would have hypothetically had Troy, but come on. I still curse the day when, for the first time, actors and actresses (and sports stars for that matter) were younger than me. It was an all of the sudden weird moment around my 30th birthday. I was flipping through US Weekly, and it occurred to me...not everyone, but a lot of peeps, starring in the current movies were in their mid to late twenties...and I was no longer!
I don't think I am ready for the actors that play the parents of the main characters to be my age yet. But I guess it's next..........especially if I continue to watch a lot of teen movies.
Scary piece of trivia: Did you know that when Anne Bancroft starred in "The Graduate" she was only 36? I know she was playing a much older character, but wow. Mrs. Robinson was 3 years older than I am right now.
3. I bought into this movie because I love love.
(Shoutout to Ramsey's Friend Jamie for introducing me to that phrase. )
It's true.....I really love love. I get totally excited when people find eachother. (Well, when I like both the people...but that's another blog) Be it in real life, or on the big screen. Despite my sometimes seemingly cynical and occasional judgemental tendencies, I am a hopeless romantic at heart. Flowers; fireworks; grand gestures....bring it on.
Another sidestory: I am laughing at myself today because I may or may not have been slightly overserved this weekend, and I was hanging out with an old family friend of mine. Well, he introduced me to his new girlfriend, and the chick was pretty flippin' cool. In my state, if you will, I felt the need to tell her that they seems perfect for eachother, repeatedly saying (and I quote) that I "Loved love". Yeah. I also fell asleep on the chaise lounge outside on my porch waiting for the dog to do his business. I really hope neither of my neighbors saw.
Back to the latest point...High School Musical 2 is all about love: sweet, predictable, and simplistic. It's the singing and dancing side of love. What we all think 17 year old summer romances should be. Cosy picnics and innocent night swims. There was no sex, no drinking, and no screaming fights. There is a nemesis for a little drama, but she sees the light just in time to join the big show. It's corny, but I ate it up. Maybe because (to quote a cheesy romantic comedy from a couple years ago) "I'm looking for corny in my life."
I think I'll go to Target today to buy the HSM 2 soundtrack. These are just the type of songs that its fun to blast when driving around with the convertible top down.
High School Musical 3 comes out in October to the big screen. See you there.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
A Sucker at Heart
So I have an obsession.....
Inspirational sports commercials.
Love them. Get totally drawn in by them. They sometimes make me tear up a little.
Let's go a couple years back to the World Cup 2006. Gotta tell ya.....those were the best inspirational commercials I have ever seen. Especially the ESPN ones that U2 (particularly Bono) narrated. Every time I saw that ad about the Ivory Coast, I wanted to jump up and cheer, then go to The Sports Authority, buy a football, excuse me, soccer ball, and start training. (You know what....I am going to use "Football" instead of "Soccer" for the rest of this post. Makes me feel very international, if you will)
If you haven't seen it, or don't remember it here's the gist.....
They show a bunch of local people from the Ivory Coast gathered in a tiny building. They are clearly poor. The background and the people are looking a little war ravished. Then Bono starts talking about how there has been a civil war in the Ivory Coast for more than three years. However, this is the first year that the country has qualified for the World Cup. So, (and this is true, I remember looking it up when I saw the ad for the first time) in honor of this feat, and probably because none of the soldiers were going to want to fight, because everyone would want to watch their team play, the country did negotiate a ceasefire for the duration of the World Cup. Then, after explaining this, you see why all the people are gathered. They are waiting to watch the World Cup Team board the plane. The crowd is smiling, screaming in delight, and waving flags. Bono comes on and says "Everyone knows that a country united makes for better cheerleaders than a country divided" Awesome. The whole "Unites a country" thing because a theme for the entire series of ads. The only thing that would have make that story more moving is if Ivory Coast had won more than one game, or totally won the whole thing! Then it would have become a Disney movie.
I loved that commercial!!!! I have to be honest, not sure if it aired that much in the US, but I was in Canada and Poland for the majority of the World Cup. In Canada, the world cup ads were about every 4th commercial. In Poland, the only English channel we got (except for the Porn channel) was Eurosport. The football ads were every other commercial on that station. So, I saw a lot of them, from a lot of countries, and it was inspiring.
Here's a link to the whole series of ESPN ads that ran.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/archive/onegame/
Then click where it says ENTER. Then "view world cup ads". You can watch each of the 5 ads by clicking at the bottom.
My Favs....
1. Of course, the Ivory Coast one. You are made of stone if it doesn't bring a little tear to your eyes.
2. The "Anthem" one. It's overly dramatic, but I still love it. "All it takes is a ball" I have always believed that sports were a uniter. Be it between factions at war - The Ivory Coast example. A Country so divided they just need a common belief - Anyone heard of the US Hockey Team of 1980? Or just fathers and sons who have nothing in common, but a sport they can talk about. (Got this from City Slickers)
Now to the reason I started writing this blog today. I saw a commercial for the 2008 China Olympics. It sucked. There I said it. Morgan Freeman narrated it. Seriously? Is he the best we could do? The World Cup got Bono, and all the biggest sports festival in the world could get is the guy who drove Miss Daisy?
On the topic, why is this the only Olympic commercial I have seen? I want to see them all the time. I want to be moved to tears by the inspiring story. I want to be so rapped up by an amazing backstory that I learn about in a 30 second spot, that I want to watch the rifle shooting, or the badminton, or other lame events that call themselves a sport just to root on the underdog with the fight in his eyes put there by the last dying dream of his polio stricken formerly estranged, but now he's biggest fan, father. Where are those ads?
I'm a little disappointed. It's a huge sporting event. Where is the marketing? I know this sounds very generation X, American dream believing, need to be entertained every minute, and can't just be happy with the reporting and airing of the events, but I do love when I am inspired. I want to get behind an athlete, and I want to know his (or her) whole story. If it takes a commercial blip to make me google it, then so be it.
And I'm not alone. Others out there want to feel that inspiration, with its great rallying music. Afterall, think of Jerry Maguire. Everyone loved that movie. It was about sports, true, but was it really? That movie was about marketing. One of my favorite realizations in that film is what you are rooting at the end is not that Cuba Gooding Jr.'s team will go to the Superbowl, or even just win the game. You are rooting for him to personally have a great play on national TV, be a crowd favorite, then get a big contract, and some endorsements. But, everyone cheered when it happen. We don't even know if the Cardinals won the game or not. But, I was eating it up.
And you would think that this is the perfect time to play off our country's desire to be inspired. We need it right now. A well marketed US Olympic team could get everyone's mind off gas prices; the stock market; the morgage and foreclosure mess, and what is sure to be a brutal upcoming election season. What's a better time to be seeing that flag wave, and to come up with catchy slogans to get behind? Let's do what "One Game Changes Everything" did for the World Cup 2006.
So, people behind ads for the Olympics (NBC, Coke, and every other "official whatever of the Olympics")........ Time to move me. I want to care enough to tune in. Give me a reason to find a hero.....
P.S. Have to add this. Another World Cup commercial that I thought was so very creative was the Gatorade American World Cup Team ad. Terrific, and very topical for 2 years ago.
Summary: The song "take me out to the ballgame" is playing. They show all these images of Team USA. One of them is the team forced to have a security escort when they go through a city surrounded by protesters. Then, shots of all these Europeans with signs saying things like "Yanks Go Home". There is also this scene of the American team, in their uniforms, walking into a booing stadium with fans throwing things at them. The tagline at the end is "It's a whole new Ballgame." Loved it. Kudos to Gatorade.
Inspirational sports commercials.
Love them. Get totally drawn in by them. They sometimes make me tear up a little.
Let's go a couple years back to the World Cup 2006. Gotta tell ya.....those were the best inspirational commercials I have ever seen. Especially the ESPN ones that U2 (particularly Bono) narrated. Every time I saw that ad about the Ivory Coast, I wanted to jump up and cheer, then go to The Sports Authority, buy a football, excuse me, soccer ball, and start training. (You know what....I am going to use "Football" instead of "Soccer" for the rest of this post. Makes me feel very international, if you will)
If you haven't seen it, or don't remember it here's the gist.....
They show a bunch of local people from the Ivory Coast gathered in a tiny building. They are clearly poor. The background and the people are looking a little war ravished. Then Bono starts talking about how there has been a civil war in the Ivory Coast for more than three years. However, this is the first year that the country has qualified for the World Cup. So, (and this is true, I remember looking it up when I saw the ad for the first time) in honor of this feat, and probably because none of the soldiers were going to want to fight, because everyone would want to watch their team play, the country did negotiate a ceasefire for the duration of the World Cup. Then, after explaining this, you see why all the people are gathered. They are waiting to watch the World Cup Team board the plane. The crowd is smiling, screaming in delight, and waving flags. Bono comes on and says "Everyone knows that a country united makes for better cheerleaders than a country divided" Awesome. The whole "Unites a country" thing because a theme for the entire series of ads. The only thing that would have make that story more moving is if Ivory Coast had won more than one game, or totally won the whole thing! Then it would have become a Disney movie.
I loved that commercial!!!! I have to be honest, not sure if it aired that much in the US, but I was in Canada and Poland for the majority of the World Cup. In Canada, the world cup ads were about every 4th commercial. In Poland, the only English channel we got (except for the Porn channel) was Eurosport. The football ads were every other commercial on that station. So, I saw a lot of them, from a lot of countries, and it was inspiring.
Here's a link to the whole series of ESPN ads that ran.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/archive/onegame/
Then click where it says ENTER. Then "view world cup ads". You can watch each of the 5 ads by clicking at the bottom.
My Favs....
1. Of course, the Ivory Coast one. You are made of stone if it doesn't bring a little tear to your eyes.
2. The "Anthem" one. It's overly dramatic, but I still love it. "All it takes is a ball" I have always believed that sports were a uniter. Be it between factions at war - The Ivory Coast example. A Country so divided they just need a common belief - Anyone heard of the US Hockey Team of 1980? Or just fathers and sons who have nothing in common, but a sport they can talk about. (Got this from City Slickers)
Now to the reason I started writing this blog today. I saw a commercial for the 2008 China Olympics. It sucked. There I said it. Morgan Freeman narrated it. Seriously? Is he the best we could do? The World Cup got Bono, and all the biggest sports festival in the world could get is the guy who drove Miss Daisy?
On the topic, why is this the only Olympic commercial I have seen? I want to see them all the time. I want to be moved to tears by the inspiring story. I want to be so rapped up by an amazing backstory that I learn about in a 30 second spot, that I want to watch the rifle shooting, or the badminton, or other lame events that call themselves a sport just to root on the underdog with the fight in his eyes put there by the last dying dream of his polio stricken formerly estranged, but now he's biggest fan, father. Where are those ads?
I'm a little disappointed. It's a huge sporting event. Where is the marketing? I know this sounds very generation X, American dream believing, need to be entertained every minute, and can't just be happy with the reporting and airing of the events, but I do love when I am inspired. I want to get behind an athlete, and I want to know his (or her) whole story. If it takes a commercial blip to make me google it, then so be it.
And I'm not alone. Others out there want to feel that inspiration, with its great rallying music. Afterall, think of Jerry Maguire. Everyone loved that movie. It was about sports, true, but was it really? That movie was about marketing. One of my favorite realizations in that film is what you are rooting at the end is not that Cuba Gooding Jr.'s team will go to the Superbowl, or even just win the game. You are rooting for him to personally have a great play on national TV, be a crowd favorite, then get a big contract, and some endorsements. But, everyone cheered when it happen. We don't even know if the Cardinals won the game or not. But, I was eating it up.
And you would think that this is the perfect time to play off our country's desire to be inspired. We need it right now. A well marketed US Olympic team could get everyone's mind off gas prices; the stock market; the morgage and foreclosure mess, and what is sure to be a brutal upcoming election season. What's a better time to be seeing that flag wave, and to come up with catchy slogans to get behind? Let's do what "One Game Changes Everything" did for the World Cup 2006.
So, people behind ads for the Olympics (NBC, Coke, and every other "official whatever of the Olympics")........ Time to move me. I want to care enough to tune in. Give me a reason to find a hero.....
P.S. Have to add this. Another World Cup commercial that I thought was so very creative was the Gatorade American World Cup Team ad. Terrific, and very topical for 2 years ago.
Summary: The song "take me out to the ballgame" is playing. They show all these images of Team USA. One of them is the team forced to have a security escort when they go through a city surrounded by protesters. Then, shots of all these Europeans with signs saying things like "Yanks Go Home". There is also this scene of the American team, in their uniforms, walking into a booing stadium with fans throwing things at them. The tagline at the end is "It's a whole new Ballgame." Loved it. Kudos to Gatorade.
Monday, July 21, 2008
The Ulimate Movie Soundtrack
I totally saw this on another blog (the link is "Foof's Friend Justin" on my blog list...check it out) and thought I had to make my own.
Pretend that your life was a movie....what would be on the soundtrack?
Now, music is not really my thing. I'm more of a movie buff. What I mean is that I don't follow a lot of artists, I don't have an Ipod, and I tend to just listen to the radio more than CDs or anything. But, when I hear a song that catches my attention or my heart, I do tend to remember it. A lot of those songs that struck me are on this list.
The soundtrack took me a long time to come up with, and to be honest, I'm still not completely happy with some of the choices, but here it is.........
Opening Credit: Read My Mind; The Killers
Waking Up: I'm Coming Out; Diana Ross
Average Day: Free Falling; Tom Petty
First Date: For You I Will (Confidence); Teddy Geiger
Falling in Love: I'll be There; Sade
Love Scene: When you Say Nothing At All; Ronan Keating
Fight Scene: Holding out for a Hero; Bonnie Tyler
Breaking Up: Breathe (2am); Anna Nalick
Getting Back Together: Home; Micheal Buble
Secret Love: You are My Joy; The Reindeer Section
Life's Okay: Proud; Heather Smalls
Mental Breakdown: Cruel Summer; Bananrama
Driving: These are Days; 10,000 Maniacs
Learning a Lesson: In the Sun; Coldplay
Deep Thought: Bittersweet Symphony; The Verve
Flashback: Reflections, The Supremes
Partying: Ice Ice Baby; Vanilla Ice
Happy Dance: Shook Me all Night Long; AC/DC
Regretting: Time to Say GoodBye; Sarah Brightman & Andrea Bocelli
Long Night Alone: Sometimes We Cry; Tom Jones
Death Scene: Hallelujah; Jeff Buckley
Closing Credits: Save the Last Dance; The Drifters
If you enjoyed my choices (and even if you didn't) ...make your own soundtrack. It was fun to do!
Pretend that your life was a movie....what would be on the soundtrack?
Now, music is not really my thing. I'm more of a movie buff. What I mean is that I don't follow a lot of artists, I don't have an Ipod, and I tend to just listen to the radio more than CDs or anything. But, when I hear a song that catches my attention or my heart, I do tend to remember it. A lot of those songs that struck me are on this list.
The soundtrack took me a long time to come up with, and to be honest, I'm still not completely happy with some of the choices, but here it is.........
Opening Credit: Read My Mind; The Killers
Waking Up: I'm Coming Out; Diana Ross
Average Day: Free Falling; Tom Petty
First Date: For You I Will (Confidence); Teddy Geiger
Falling in Love: I'll be There; Sade
Love Scene: When you Say Nothing At All; Ronan Keating
Fight Scene: Holding out for a Hero; Bonnie Tyler
Breaking Up: Breathe (2am); Anna Nalick
Getting Back Together: Home; Micheal Buble
Secret Love: You are My Joy; The Reindeer Section
Life's Okay: Proud; Heather Smalls
Mental Breakdown: Cruel Summer; Bananrama
Driving: These are Days; 10,000 Maniacs
Learning a Lesson: In the Sun; Coldplay
Deep Thought: Bittersweet Symphony; The Verve
Flashback: Reflections, The Supremes
Partying: Ice Ice Baby; Vanilla Ice
Happy Dance: Shook Me all Night Long; AC/DC
Regretting: Time to Say GoodBye; Sarah Brightman & Andrea Bocelli
Long Night Alone: Sometimes We Cry; Tom Jones
Death Scene: Hallelujah; Jeff Buckley
Closing Credits: Save the Last Dance; The Drifters
If you enjoyed my choices (and even if you didn't) ...make your own soundtrack. It was fun to do!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
The Creation Museum...The Final Chapter
So, I decided today to sit down and finally write, like I promised, my account on the experience that was the Creation Museum. However, as I started to outline my thoughts, I came to a realization.
There is no way I can discuss that day in the detail that is necessary without doing two things.
1. Seriously offending people with alternative beliefs than my own.
2. Firing myself up to the point that this blog is nothing more that a rant, and therefore will sound completely one sided, and I will become what I accuse extremists of being: Self Righteous.
Point #1 is a factor, but not really a huge concern. I am a big believer in the mantra that you can only be offended by something if you let yourself. It is not my fault if others are offended. If I was really worried about it, I would stick to blogs about movies, beaches, and bars, and never touch on politics, religion or the like.
But #2 affects me, and my personal internal struggle to stay open minded despite my overwhelming tendencies to judge and be very opinionated.
So....I have decided not to give the detailed account of the whole experience that I had planned. Instead, i will just list(I love lists) a couple of points that I really think need to be mentioned.
Here we go.....
1. I was very intrigued by the fact that the building itself was very "secure".
What I mean by that is there were 3 sheriff deputies on duty: one in the parking lot and two in the courtyard by the building. There was a gated entrance from the road. Plus, the windowed wall that spanned the entrance front doors of the building had those huge concrete round barriers that you often see in front of airport doors. Airports have them to stop the possibility of a truck or van plowing through the entrance with a bomb or something. I guess the Creation Museum could have the same concerns.
2. The museum was set up like it was ready for an argument.
Every possible example that scientists and scholars have ever posed to try to discredit the theory of Intelligent Design was very blatantly turned into an exhibit. There was one dedicated to why the modern method of dating fossils is incorrect, and that all fossils were created because of Noah's flood. One exhibit was only about the reasons why it is possible that dinosaurs and humans could coexist. My personal favorite was a presentation on the idea that since God created everything to be good originally (in Garden of Eden), there were no "bad" animals. It was not until man's original sin did some animals get evil traits. I.E. poisonous snakes; man eating sharks; evil insects like fire ants and scorpions.
3. The gift shop was the size of a department store.
It was huge, and I'm sure it had every piece of fundamental literature that had ever been written. There was an entire section of religious coloring books. There was a CD/DVD department where you could sample (with headphones) a CD before you purchased it...much like a Virgin Megastore. I also have to point out that there was an entire room dedicated to materials for home schooling....talk about reinforcing a stereotype. There was even a book signing the day I was there!
Also, I picked up a couple of little booklets that peaked my curiosity (though it make me a little ill to give that bookstore any money, even the $1.50 that together they cost) One of the booklet's was a biblical and religious explanation why gay marriage and homosexuality was dangerous, and how to talk to your non believing neighbors about the topic. A gripping read.
O.K. I am done on this topic, except for one thing. No opinion here or anything, just an observation. I noticed on the Creation Museum website that there was a "jobs" section. My curiosity about what kind of jobs they were advertising for won out, and I checked it. It wasn't the jobs available that struck me, it was the agreement you have to sign in order to be considered for a position. it's called the "AIG (Answers in Genesis) Statement of Faith" .
Here's a link to it....... Enjoy.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/about/faith
Overall, I was glad I went to the Creation Museum. It didn't change my mind on anything, but it was interesting to see some of the arguments on the topic.
And it reminded me just how many crazy people there are in this world. There, I said it!
There is no way I can discuss that day in the detail that is necessary without doing two things.
1. Seriously offending people with alternative beliefs than my own.
2. Firing myself up to the point that this blog is nothing more that a rant, and therefore will sound completely one sided, and I will become what I accuse extremists of being: Self Righteous.
Point #1 is a factor, but not really a huge concern. I am a big believer in the mantra that you can only be offended by something if you let yourself. It is not my fault if others are offended. If I was really worried about it, I would stick to blogs about movies, beaches, and bars, and never touch on politics, religion or the like.
But #2 affects me, and my personal internal struggle to stay open minded despite my overwhelming tendencies to judge and be very opinionated.
So....I have decided not to give the detailed account of the whole experience that I had planned. Instead, i will just list(I love lists) a couple of points that I really think need to be mentioned.
Here we go.....
1. I was very intrigued by the fact that the building itself was very "secure".
What I mean by that is there were 3 sheriff deputies on duty: one in the parking lot and two in the courtyard by the building. There was a gated entrance from the road. Plus, the windowed wall that spanned the entrance front doors of the building had those huge concrete round barriers that you often see in front of airport doors. Airports have them to stop the possibility of a truck or van plowing through the entrance with a bomb or something. I guess the Creation Museum could have the same concerns.
2. The museum was set up like it was ready for an argument.
Every possible example that scientists and scholars have ever posed to try to discredit the theory of Intelligent Design was very blatantly turned into an exhibit. There was one dedicated to why the modern method of dating fossils is incorrect, and that all fossils were created because of Noah's flood. One exhibit was only about the reasons why it is possible that dinosaurs and humans could coexist. My personal favorite was a presentation on the idea that since God created everything to be good originally (in Garden of Eden), there were no "bad" animals. It was not until man's original sin did some animals get evil traits. I.E. poisonous snakes; man eating sharks; evil insects like fire ants and scorpions.
3. The gift shop was the size of a department store.
It was huge, and I'm sure it had every piece of fundamental literature that had ever been written. There was an entire section of religious coloring books. There was a CD/DVD department where you could sample (with headphones) a CD before you purchased it...much like a Virgin Megastore. I also have to point out that there was an entire room dedicated to materials for home schooling....talk about reinforcing a stereotype. There was even a book signing the day I was there!
Also, I picked up a couple of little booklets that peaked my curiosity (though it make me a little ill to give that bookstore any money, even the $1.50 that together they cost) One of the booklet's was a biblical and religious explanation why gay marriage and homosexuality was dangerous, and how to talk to your non believing neighbors about the topic. A gripping read.
O.K. I am done on this topic, except for one thing. No opinion here or anything, just an observation. I noticed on the Creation Museum website that there was a "jobs" section. My curiosity about what kind of jobs they were advertising for won out, and I checked it. It wasn't the jobs available that struck me, it was the agreement you have to sign in order to be considered for a position. it's called the "AIG (Answers in Genesis) Statement of Faith" .
Here's a link to it....... Enjoy.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/about/faith
Overall, I was glad I went to the Creation Museum. It didn't change my mind on anything, but it was interesting to see some of the arguments on the topic.
And it reminded me just how many crazy people there are in this world. There, I said it!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Cette Bud pour Toi
I'm not going to rehash what happen with InBev, Anheuser Busch, and the world headquarters in St. Louis. We already know what unpleasant things are in store.
What I am going to do is examine (in my own thought process, not that of an economist or business analyst, which I am neither) who is at fault.
Americans love to play the blame game. Why do you think there is so much civil litigation? I'm generalizing here, but as a whole, we never want to believe anything is our own fault. Now, I'm not saying Joe Schmoe American is to blame for the AB merger.....don't get that idea from this blog, but I am going to entertain myself today, while I am stuck at a hospitality desk in Haliburton, ONT, by discussing possible people to hold accountable.
Disclaimer: Please remember this is the rambling of my mind, and not any kind of political statement. I'm going to try and have fun with this sobering (pun intended) topic. In fact, just keep the phrase "tongue in cheek" in your mind as you read this.....
1. First, let's start with InBev.
They are certainly hated around St. Louis. It's an old story, the big bad corporate giant comes in and takes over the little guys. Sounds very Walmartesque. Except that AB is not exactly the little guy. And how do you think AB became the huge successful brewer they were, until about a month ago, when this all started? They bought up other breweries (and farms, and packaging companies, and theme parks, you get the idea) around the world.
Let's look at InBev's recent history.
In 2005, when Carlos Brito took over as CEO, the company was a mess. In fact, this article I read yesterday in a Canadian paper (I was intrigued with reading about the merger from a source without an indignant American spin) said that when he took over InBev "he installed some harsh Brazilian financial discipline on a bloated company of French-fry-eating Belgiums." In a very short time, he turned things around, and made InBev very profitable. I'm not condoning his tactics, but bottom line, he is successful as a CEO. In my opinion, if InBev were an American company we were talking about, and not the evil raper of Americana, they would have been at the top of Fortune Magazines "Movers and Shakers" list.
2. Let's blame Anheuser Busch
After all, the Busch family is who sold off so much of the stock for capital a few years back. Also, the company has not been overly successful (if you measure success in terms of growth) or profitable since 2000. The stock price has been stagnant, leaving major holders with 8 years of nothing more than meager dividends. In fact, government bonds have had similar returns as AB stock in the millennium. Anheuser Busch has not really been able to lower operational costs, which is usually a company's prerogative when growth is minimal. Which brings me to the next player in my blame game......
3. Let's blame all the AB unions!
Everyone's favorite target. The big communist unions. Keeping operational costs high. When every other worker in the US is dealing with no raises, higher copay health care costs, and uncertain job security in this economy, the unions are still insisting that their employees are above all those effects. Now, AB was always very good to their employees, especially their union employees. I am not an expert on union relations, or labor law, but I will say that in my experience, the AB packagers, line employees, and pretty much all brewery workers had a pretty good deal. They were well paid. There were very few, if any, layoffs. They never actually had a good reason to strike for at least 8 or 9 years, and the last time a strike was eminent, it was not about pay, working conditions, or pensions....it was about the increased hiring of part time workers. And everything settled, the strike never happen. So, here's the unsaid assumption turned into a question...if the unions were not so strong at AB, would costs have been significantly reduced, and the company more profitable? But then again, a very simplistic question, would St. Louis people (or people in the 12 other cities with AB breweries in the US) have been so ridiculously and emotionally supportive of a company that wasn't really that great to its employees?
O.K. Who's next......
3. The American Drinker.
Americans are just not drinking as much beer anymore. This never really occurred to me until I was talking one day to a cousin of mine who works in marketing for AB, and he pointed it out. Then I realized, at least in my experience, he was totally right.
When we were in college, everyone drank beer. At frat parties, in the bars, at sporting events, for the most part, we, and everyone around us, were drinking beer. Yes, we would do shots sometimes....and drink fancy cocktails on occasion. And yes, there were those few people (mainly girly girls who we made fun of) who didn't like beer. However, beer was always the staple. It was cheap, easy to transfer, came in its own container, and you always knew what you were getting. (no complaints about bars making it too weak or too strong)
After college, I started noticing a change to that. The TV networks started letting liquor advertise, so it was not all beer ads anymore. The vodka companies starting making their own bottled, flavored drinks that were heavily promoted. Old school, old fashioned, more grown up cocktails like gin and tonic, and martinis were trendy again. I know it's weird to think of a martini as old fashioned, but before the late nineties, early 2000s, the only people drinking them were ladies lunching, and business men in suits at a bar after work.
The biggest change in drinking habits I saw after college, and in the past decade, was the popularity of wine. People were drinking it a lot more, and everyone was trying to educate themselves at least a little. Before, you drank wine when you were out to a nice dinner, or at a wedding. Now, people were drinking it at bars and clubs.
Little did I know that the changes in drink choices I saw in my generation were actually a reflection of the changes in drinking habits of the entire country. Well, Anheuser Busch has seen, and is still dealing with, the fallout from the reduction of beer drinkers, and beer consumption in the US.
This is where I think common sense is missed with the American consumer. To put this very simply, we want iconic American companies to be successful, but a lot of us are choosing not to purchase their products. I equate this to the collapse of the American car industry....no one wants the American car companies to go bankrupt, and layoff thousands and thousands of people, but when we go to buy cars, we are not, for whatever reasons, choosing Fords, Chevys, or Chryslers.
And my next victim of the blame game on this issue.....
4. The Current Administration and its Economic Policy
Why not blame W? He's an easy target for anything these days. Now I know that presidential administrations are not necessarily responsible for recessions and economic turns that occur during their tenor. I know that there are a lot of economic issues and decisions that could go back years and decades to bring us to where we are now, but let's face it, that is not how the American public thinks.
History has proven that we credit, or blame, the economic situation of the country during a certain era on the president who is in power at that time. That is why Clinton is credited with balancing the budget, and a healthy, booming economy. We still refer to the wealth of the eighties as "The Reagan Years.", and we blame Carter for the economic disaster that was the late seventies.
That said, I want to point out the main reason that InBev was able to even attempt the takeover of Anheuser Busch: the devaluing of the American Dollar. It was cheap in Euros. And like it or not, in the 7+ years that Bush has been in power, the US dollar has been on a tailspin, and nothing has been done to stop it. Instead we have spent billions on an unnecessary war. We have borrowed ridiculous amounts of money from countries like China to fund an obscene governmental spending spree. And, I know this will make me unpopular, but what do we do when we have this unbelievable deficient, and the fear of radical inflation looming?....... we borrow even more money to fund the economic stimulus package that has no chance of actually stimulating our economy.
I don't mean for this to sound conspiracy theoryish or anything but, sometimes I feel like our country's economic house of cards could crumple at any time. In fact, a few cards have already fallen: skyrocketing gas prices, devalued currency, the bursting of the real estate bubble, and now the vulnerability of our most treasured American owned corperations.
5. When all else fails, lets just blame the French.
We hate them anyway. I know that Belgium is a completely different country, but let's face it.....it's near France. They speak French. I say we just blame those stupid, snobby, self righteous, never wanting to fight, but always expecting us to bail them out people of France. Flambe that, Mon amis.
O.K. This is the end of my fun blame game....I think I have made my point about some of the possible factors that brought St. Louis to the confused, post-AB city we will now have to just wait and see what happens to. The end of an era, if you will.
The scary part is that this is just the beginning. I heard something the other day that Coca Cola Inc. is in a similar financial situation as AB was. Definitely not losing money, but not making as big a profit margin as they had in the past. They have been very slowly losing market share. Oh, and their stock had been pretty stagnate for the last few years. Wow, this end of an era could reach further that just St. Louis........
So now that I have thoroughly depressed everyone, lets end on some lighter news....
Isn't it rockin' that Brad and Angelina named one of their kids Vivienne!!!! I was so excited when I heard that. Awesome!
What I am going to do is examine (in my own thought process, not that of an economist or business analyst, which I am neither) who is at fault.
Americans love to play the blame game. Why do you think there is so much civil litigation? I'm generalizing here, but as a whole, we never want to believe anything is our own fault. Now, I'm not saying Joe Schmoe American is to blame for the AB merger.....don't get that idea from this blog, but I am going to entertain myself today, while I am stuck at a hospitality desk in Haliburton, ONT, by discussing possible people to hold accountable.
Disclaimer: Please remember this is the rambling of my mind, and not any kind of political statement. I'm going to try and have fun with this sobering (pun intended) topic. In fact, just keep the phrase "tongue in cheek" in your mind as you read this.....
1. First, let's start with InBev.
They are certainly hated around St. Louis. It's an old story, the big bad corporate giant comes in and takes over the little guys. Sounds very Walmartesque. Except that AB is not exactly the little guy. And how do you think AB became the huge successful brewer they were, until about a month ago, when this all started? They bought up other breweries (and farms, and packaging companies, and theme parks, you get the idea) around the world.
Let's look at InBev's recent history.
In 2005, when Carlos Brito took over as CEO, the company was a mess. In fact, this article I read yesterday in a Canadian paper (I was intrigued with reading about the merger from a source without an indignant American spin) said that when he took over InBev "he installed some harsh Brazilian financial discipline on a bloated company of French-fry-eating Belgiums." In a very short time, he turned things around, and made InBev very profitable. I'm not condoning his tactics, but bottom line, he is successful as a CEO. In my opinion, if InBev were an American company we were talking about, and not the evil raper of Americana, they would have been at the top of Fortune Magazines "Movers and Shakers" list.
2. Let's blame Anheuser Busch
After all, the Busch family is who sold off so much of the stock for capital a few years back. Also, the company has not been overly successful (if you measure success in terms of growth) or profitable since 2000. The stock price has been stagnant, leaving major holders with 8 years of nothing more than meager dividends. In fact, government bonds have had similar returns as AB stock in the millennium. Anheuser Busch has not really been able to lower operational costs, which is usually a company's prerogative when growth is minimal. Which brings me to the next player in my blame game......
3. Let's blame all the AB unions!
Everyone's favorite target. The big communist unions. Keeping operational costs high. When every other worker in the US is dealing with no raises, higher copay health care costs, and uncertain job security in this economy, the unions are still insisting that their employees are above all those effects. Now, AB was always very good to their employees, especially their union employees. I am not an expert on union relations, or labor law, but I will say that in my experience, the AB packagers, line employees, and pretty much all brewery workers had a pretty good deal. They were well paid. There were very few, if any, layoffs. They never actually had a good reason to strike for at least 8 or 9 years, and the last time a strike was eminent, it was not about pay, working conditions, or pensions....it was about the increased hiring of part time workers. And everything settled, the strike never happen. So, here's the unsaid assumption turned into a question...if the unions were not so strong at AB, would costs have been significantly reduced, and the company more profitable? But then again, a very simplistic question, would St. Louis people (or people in the 12 other cities with AB breweries in the US) have been so ridiculously and emotionally supportive of a company that wasn't really that great to its employees?
O.K. Who's next......
3. The American Drinker.
Americans are just not drinking as much beer anymore. This never really occurred to me until I was talking one day to a cousin of mine who works in marketing for AB, and he pointed it out. Then I realized, at least in my experience, he was totally right.
When we were in college, everyone drank beer. At frat parties, in the bars, at sporting events, for the most part, we, and everyone around us, were drinking beer. Yes, we would do shots sometimes....and drink fancy cocktails on occasion. And yes, there were those few people (mainly girly girls who we made fun of) who didn't like beer. However, beer was always the staple. It was cheap, easy to transfer, came in its own container, and you always knew what you were getting. (no complaints about bars making it too weak or too strong)
After college, I started noticing a change to that. The TV networks started letting liquor advertise, so it was not all beer ads anymore. The vodka companies starting making their own bottled, flavored drinks that were heavily promoted. Old school, old fashioned, more grown up cocktails like gin and tonic, and martinis were trendy again. I know it's weird to think of a martini as old fashioned, but before the late nineties, early 2000s, the only people drinking them were ladies lunching, and business men in suits at a bar after work.
The biggest change in drinking habits I saw after college, and in the past decade, was the popularity of wine. People were drinking it a lot more, and everyone was trying to educate themselves at least a little. Before, you drank wine when you were out to a nice dinner, or at a wedding. Now, people were drinking it at bars and clubs.
Little did I know that the changes in drink choices I saw in my generation were actually a reflection of the changes in drinking habits of the entire country. Well, Anheuser Busch has seen, and is still dealing with, the fallout from the reduction of beer drinkers, and beer consumption in the US.
This is where I think common sense is missed with the American consumer. To put this very simply, we want iconic American companies to be successful, but a lot of us are choosing not to purchase their products. I equate this to the collapse of the American car industry....no one wants the American car companies to go bankrupt, and layoff thousands and thousands of people, but when we go to buy cars, we are not, for whatever reasons, choosing Fords, Chevys, or Chryslers.
And my next victim of the blame game on this issue.....
4. The Current Administration and its Economic Policy
Why not blame W? He's an easy target for anything these days. Now I know that presidential administrations are not necessarily responsible for recessions and economic turns that occur during their tenor. I know that there are a lot of economic issues and decisions that could go back years and decades to bring us to where we are now, but let's face it, that is not how the American public thinks.
History has proven that we credit, or blame, the economic situation of the country during a certain era on the president who is in power at that time. That is why Clinton is credited with balancing the budget, and a healthy, booming economy. We still refer to the wealth of the eighties as "The Reagan Years.", and we blame Carter for the economic disaster that was the late seventies.
That said, I want to point out the main reason that InBev was able to even attempt the takeover of Anheuser Busch: the devaluing of the American Dollar. It was cheap in Euros. And like it or not, in the 7+ years that Bush has been in power, the US dollar has been on a tailspin, and nothing has been done to stop it. Instead we have spent billions on an unnecessary war. We have borrowed ridiculous amounts of money from countries like China to fund an obscene governmental spending spree. And, I know this will make me unpopular, but what do we do when we have this unbelievable deficient, and the fear of radical inflation looming?....... we borrow even more money to fund the economic stimulus package that has no chance of actually stimulating our economy.
I don't mean for this to sound conspiracy theoryish or anything but, sometimes I feel like our country's economic house of cards could crumple at any time. In fact, a few cards have already fallen: skyrocketing gas prices, devalued currency, the bursting of the real estate bubble, and now the vulnerability of our most treasured American owned corperations.
5. When all else fails, lets just blame the French.
We hate them anyway. I know that Belgium is a completely different country, but let's face it.....it's near France. They speak French. I say we just blame those stupid, snobby, self righteous, never wanting to fight, but always expecting us to bail them out people of France. Flambe that, Mon amis.
O.K. This is the end of my fun blame game....I think I have made my point about some of the possible factors that brought St. Louis to the confused, post-AB city we will now have to just wait and see what happens to. The end of an era, if you will.
The scary part is that this is just the beginning. I heard something the other day that Coca Cola Inc. is in a similar financial situation as AB was. Definitely not losing money, but not making as big a profit margin as they had in the past. They have been very slowly losing market share. Oh, and their stock had been pretty stagnate for the last few years. Wow, this end of an era could reach further that just St. Louis........
So now that I have thoroughly depressed everyone, lets end on some lighter news....
Isn't it rockin' that Brad and Angelina named one of their kids Vivienne!!!! I was so excited when I heard that. Awesome!
Friday, July 18, 2008
Lofty Aspirations
I have always thought that I was meant for something bigger that I am now. If you have read this blog in its entirety up until now, you have heard me say that before. The problem is that I haven't figured out what that "something bigger" will be.
Today I read about a guy who at the age of 29 found himself with a debilitating spinal cord injury. The doctors were going to perform a surgery that had a chance of permanently paralysing him. On the day before, he decided to make a list of all the things he was going to do differently if the surgery was successful. Here was one (just one) of his goals.....
"5. I will live a full and interesting life, a life that others envy, one free of regrets and self-doubt. I will actively pursue my dreams, regardless of how daunting they may be or how others may ridicule them as being unattainable. On the flip side, I will never make light of anyone else's dreams and I will actively encourage them to believe in themselves and their abilities. I want to be the first person people want to invite when they're having a party and the first that they want to call when they need to talk."
Wow. Makes me really want to know what the first four goals were!
Reading that quote is like watching the movie "Rudy" for the first time. It makes me what to quit my job, sell my house & possessions, and buy the American Airlines Airpass.
One of these days I am going to actually do it. I'm not going to tell anyone.....just send a postcard from the first exotic local. So stay tuned. If all of the sudden you notice that this blog hasn't been updated for awhile, you know what that means...........
footnote: The American Airlines Airpass is a pass you can purchase where you get a seat on any flight, at anytime with American Airlines for the rest of your life. You can just show up at any airport, look at the departure screen and say "where do I want to go today?" Awesome. BTW, last time I checked, they were $2 million each or $3 mill for a couple. Bargain.
Today I read about a guy who at the age of 29 found himself with a debilitating spinal cord injury. The doctors were going to perform a surgery that had a chance of permanently paralysing him. On the day before, he decided to make a list of all the things he was going to do differently if the surgery was successful. Here was one (just one) of his goals.....
"5. I will live a full and interesting life, a life that others envy, one free of regrets and self-doubt. I will actively pursue my dreams, regardless of how daunting they may be or how others may ridicule them as being unattainable. On the flip side, I will never make light of anyone else's dreams and I will actively encourage them to believe in themselves and their abilities. I want to be the first person people want to invite when they're having a party and the first that they want to call when they need to talk."
Wow. Makes me really want to know what the first four goals were!
Reading that quote is like watching the movie "Rudy" for the first time. It makes me what to quit my job, sell my house & possessions, and buy the American Airlines Airpass.
One of these days I am going to actually do it. I'm not going to tell anyone.....just send a postcard from the first exotic local. So stay tuned. If all of the sudden you notice that this blog hasn't been updated for awhile, you know what that means...........
footnote: The American Airlines Airpass is a pass you can purchase where you get a seat on any flight, at anytime with American Airlines for the rest of your life. You can just show up at any airport, look at the departure screen and say "where do I want to go today?" Awesome. BTW, last time I checked, they were $2 million each or $3 mill for a couple. Bargain.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
The Greatest Gifts....
I hope you didn't read that title thinking I was going to enlighten my readers with some dippy trite blog about the intangible pleasures that are bestowed upon us by whatever higher power you might believe in. No. That's not where I am going with this.
I was just reading a random person's blog that I found while searching some of the favorite movies; books and hobbies on my profile. Yes, I am that bored right now. (No cell phone service, and Canadian TV sucks bacon)
Anyway, this girl had a great list of the best presents she had ever gotten for her birthday. It really made me laugh. So....I thought I would do the same. Only, I am not going to do just birthday.
Here it is....Viv's best gifts. No particular order. Enjoy.
1. The Big Yellow Barbie Bus.
I begged for this in 1981. My uncle Frank bought it for me on Christmas. Actually, my mom bought it with my uncle's money. That's how my family works for Christmas. No one buys anybody a gift. They just send a check to their mother, or wife and tell them to buy what the person wants. My grandmother and aunts send me money for my mother's gifts. And I know they do that for me also. Its funny. I've never understood why we just don't give money. Oh well...I'm off topic.
Back to the Barbie bus. When I was kid we always spend Christmas at my nana and papa's house in Niagara Falls. We had a great tradition. I was allowed to open one present under the tree on Christmas Eve. Then the rest had to wait until Christmas morning. I later found out that the only reason my parents let me do that was so that I would open the present that it would take awhile to put together, so they could assemble through the night, and I would have it to play with right when I woke up. That is what happen with the bus. I was so excited when I opened it. And even more thrilled the next day. It was awesome! Sunroof; convertible bunk beds. A T.V. Barbie had it all! I blame that toy for the years I tried to convince my parents to get one of those great 80s vans with the carpet and VCRs in them. In fact, I am a little embarrassed to admit that I played with that thing a lot longer than most girls will fess up to playing Barbie.
2. The Breathalyzer.
Oh yes. For my 30th birthday...my close friends (the circle) went in and got me a breathalyzer. It tells you your BAC (blood alcohol content) when you blow into it. The most fun you can have when out drinking on the town. We still pull that thing out sometimes. Great stories about blowing off the chart. Stories about still blowing over the legal limit the next morning. I even made a guy I was dating blow into it once when he was really late picking me up. I was convinced that he went to happy hour without me after work. I was wrong...he really did just work late. (Wow, and I wonder why I am still single)
3. Tickets to the Tom Jones concert. Front Row center.
Oh yeah. Tom Jones is the greatest singer of this or any generation came to St. Louis last spring, and, thanks to a guy I had gone out with a few times, who worked for a record company, I was there. He got the tickets before they even went on sale! Too bad for him, we were not still together when the concert actually took place. It was amazing. Tom is the ultimate entertainer. Plus, with our seats, we were so close to him. My friend Bridget and I loved that concert. We went all out...brought underwear to throw on stage. Tried to arrange ourselves to get pictures where it looked like we were standing next to Mr. Jones. A great experience!!!!
4. My first Stereo with a CD player.
I was the LAST kid I knew in 9th grade to not have a CD player yet. Yup...I did say 9th grade. I had the thing picked out at Target for months before Christmas...despite my mother telling me repeatedly that it was too expensive, and I wasn't going to get it. I only half believed her. My mother had a track record of trying to convince me I wasn't getting something, just so it would be a surprise. It usually never worked, but my parents and I were fighting a lot that year, and I thought she might have been serious. So, on Christmas eve, I opened it and was so thrilled. I also got my first CD that Christmas. It was the Pretty Woman soundtrack. I spend all of January singing "The King of Wishful Thinking" into a hairbrush along with my new stereo. I really was that big of a nerd.
5. A gold Bracelet.
This is going to be a strange example, but I felt I had to include this on the list. When I was a senior in college, I had this boyfriend....let's call him George. He wasn't my first boyfriend, but he was definitely my first really serious relationship. Also, the first boyfriend I had ever had over a gift giving holiday.
Anyway, I have always been a romantic at heart. I love flowers, and sweet cards from boys. That Christmas, George and I went shopping together to buy presents for our parents. While we were at the Galleria, I spotted this pretty bracelet in a store window. It sort of looked like a column the way the design wrapped around, and since I was getting ready to graduate from Mizzou, I really liked it. Anyway, I forgot about the bracelet later that day, and I didn't even notice that George saw me looking at it. But, a couple weeks later, he gave it to me for Christmas (along with 2 tickets to see RENT, another great gift.) Now that I think about it....
George was a great gift giver....well...... until he bought me a miracle bra for Valentine's Day. He claimed the women at Victoria Secret said I would love it! True story. He told me that after I gave him a strange look upon opening it. I bet there was probably a contest among the salespeople on miracle bras that particular day at VS. Anyway, back to the jewelery.....
It was a really big deal to me getting that bracelet. And it's hard to explain why. In my shallow head at the time, I guess I really believed that if a guy buys you jewelry, that he really loves you. Man, I was a hopeless romantic back then. Who am I kidding?.....I am still a wide eyed hopeless romantic. No shame.
Anyway, that was a wonderful Christmas gift. And a wonderful Christmas for that matter. In fact, I think that was the last year before I started hating Christmas. Memories.......
6. Rodney the Reindeer.
This is funny. As a child, I collected these stuffed Reindeer called Rodney and Rhonda. There was a whole line of them, all different sizes. They sold them every Christmas season at Famous Barr. Well, through the years, I had collected all of them. The only one I didn't have was the huge, almost lifesize, stuffed Rodney that was part of the display. Every year, I would go to Famous Barr and my envious eyes would see that same huge animal in the Christmas section. One year, it disappeared right after Christmas. I asked the saleswoman what happen to it, and she told me she wasn't sure, but that when the store is done with their displays, they usually get pitched. I was so upset! I had been watching it for years thinking it would actually be on sale one of these days. That dream was gone.
Little did I know that it was not pitched, but my mother happen to be at Famous Barr the day after Christmas that year, and even though it was not for sale, she asked to buy it, and they sold it to her!!!! The funny part is that she wanted to give it to me for Christmas, so it was actually hidden in a sleeping bag in our basement for an entire year. She gave it to me the next Christmas. What a surprise.....i think I slept with it in my bed for a few months.
Now that you have read that last story, and were thinking how sweet it was that I, as a child, finally got the gift I had wanted for years, I will let you in on the embarrassing secret. I was a junior in high school when i got the big Rodney. Yeah. Pathetic....I know.
That's the list. My best gifts ever......I hope you enjoyed reading it.
I was just reading a random person's blog that I found while searching some of the favorite movies; books and hobbies on my profile. Yes, I am that bored right now. (No cell phone service, and Canadian TV sucks bacon)
Anyway, this girl had a great list of the best presents she had ever gotten for her birthday. It really made me laugh. So....I thought I would do the same. Only, I am not going to do just birthday.
Here it is....Viv's best gifts. No particular order. Enjoy.
1. The Big Yellow Barbie Bus.
I begged for this in 1981. My uncle Frank bought it for me on Christmas. Actually, my mom bought it with my uncle's money. That's how my family works for Christmas. No one buys anybody a gift. They just send a check to their mother, or wife and tell them to buy what the person wants. My grandmother and aunts send me money for my mother's gifts. And I know they do that for me also. Its funny. I've never understood why we just don't give money. Oh well...I'm off topic.
Back to the Barbie bus. When I was kid we always spend Christmas at my nana and papa's house in Niagara Falls. We had a great tradition. I was allowed to open one present under the tree on Christmas Eve. Then the rest had to wait until Christmas morning. I later found out that the only reason my parents let me do that was so that I would open the present that it would take awhile to put together, so they could assemble through the night, and I would have it to play with right when I woke up. That is what happen with the bus. I was so excited when I opened it. And even more thrilled the next day. It was awesome! Sunroof; convertible bunk beds. A T.V. Barbie had it all! I blame that toy for the years I tried to convince my parents to get one of those great 80s vans with the carpet and VCRs in them. In fact, I am a little embarrassed to admit that I played with that thing a lot longer than most girls will fess up to playing Barbie.
2. The Breathalyzer.
Oh yes. For my 30th birthday...my close friends (the circle) went in and got me a breathalyzer. It tells you your BAC (blood alcohol content) when you blow into it. The most fun you can have when out drinking on the town. We still pull that thing out sometimes. Great stories about blowing off the chart. Stories about still blowing over the legal limit the next morning. I even made a guy I was dating blow into it once when he was really late picking me up. I was convinced that he went to happy hour without me after work. I was wrong...he really did just work late. (Wow, and I wonder why I am still single)
3. Tickets to the Tom Jones concert. Front Row center.
Oh yeah. Tom Jones is the greatest singer of this or any generation came to St. Louis last spring, and, thanks to a guy I had gone out with a few times, who worked for a record company, I was there. He got the tickets before they even went on sale! Too bad for him, we were not still together when the concert actually took place. It was amazing. Tom is the ultimate entertainer. Plus, with our seats, we were so close to him. My friend Bridget and I loved that concert. We went all out...brought underwear to throw on stage. Tried to arrange ourselves to get pictures where it looked like we were standing next to Mr. Jones. A great experience!!!!
4. My first Stereo with a CD player.
I was the LAST kid I knew in 9th grade to not have a CD player yet. Yup...I did say 9th grade. I had the thing picked out at Target for months before Christmas...despite my mother telling me repeatedly that it was too expensive, and I wasn't going to get it. I only half believed her. My mother had a track record of trying to convince me I wasn't getting something, just so it would be a surprise. It usually never worked, but my parents and I were fighting a lot that year, and I thought she might have been serious. So, on Christmas eve, I opened it and was so thrilled. I also got my first CD that Christmas. It was the Pretty Woman soundtrack. I spend all of January singing "The King of Wishful Thinking" into a hairbrush along with my new stereo. I really was that big of a nerd.
5. A gold Bracelet.
This is going to be a strange example, but I felt I had to include this on the list. When I was a senior in college, I had this boyfriend....let's call him George. He wasn't my first boyfriend, but he was definitely my first really serious relationship. Also, the first boyfriend I had ever had over a gift giving holiday.
Anyway, I have always been a romantic at heart. I love flowers, and sweet cards from boys. That Christmas, George and I went shopping together to buy presents for our parents. While we were at the Galleria, I spotted this pretty bracelet in a store window. It sort of looked like a column the way the design wrapped around, and since I was getting ready to graduate from Mizzou, I really liked it. Anyway, I forgot about the bracelet later that day, and I didn't even notice that George saw me looking at it. But, a couple weeks later, he gave it to me for Christmas (along with 2 tickets to see RENT, another great gift.) Now that I think about it....
George was a great gift giver....well...... until he bought me a miracle bra for Valentine's Day. He claimed the women at Victoria Secret said I would love it! True story. He told me that after I gave him a strange look upon opening it. I bet there was probably a contest among the salespeople on miracle bras that particular day at VS. Anyway, back to the jewelery.....
It was a really big deal to me getting that bracelet. And it's hard to explain why. In my shallow head at the time, I guess I really believed that if a guy buys you jewelry, that he really loves you. Man, I was a hopeless romantic back then. Who am I kidding?.....I am still a wide eyed hopeless romantic. No shame.
Anyway, that was a wonderful Christmas gift. And a wonderful Christmas for that matter. In fact, I think that was the last year before I started hating Christmas. Memories.......
6. Rodney the Reindeer.
This is funny. As a child, I collected these stuffed Reindeer called Rodney and Rhonda. There was a whole line of them, all different sizes. They sold them every Christmas season at Famous Barr. Well, through the years, I had collected all of them. The only one I didn't have was the huge, almost lifesize, stuffed Rodney that was part of the display. Every year, I would go to Famous Barr and my envious eyes would see that same huge animal in the Christmas section. One year, it disappeared right after Christmas. I asked the saleswoman what happen to it, and she told me she wasn't sure, but that when the store is done with their displays, they usually get pitched. I was so upset! I had been watching it for years thinking it would actually be on sale one of these days. That dream was gone.
Little did I know that it was not pitched, but my mother happen to be at Famous Barr the day after Christmas that year, and even though it was not for sale, she asked to buy it, and they sold it to her!!!! The funny part is that she wanted to give it to me for Christmas, so it was actually hidden in a sleeping bag in our basement for an entire year. She gave it to me the next Christmas. What a surprise.....i think I slept with it in my bed for a few months.
Now that you have read that last story, and were thinking how sweet it was that I, as a child, finally got the gift I had wanted for years, I will let you in on the embarrassing secret. I was a junior in high school when i got the big Rodney. Yeah. Pathetic....I know.
That's the list. My best gifts ever......I hope you enjoyed reading it.
Friday, July 11, 2008
What I think about on Airport Layovers.......
Hey readers......I actually wrote this blog about 2 weeks ago, saved it, and completely forgot about it until today. Typical Viv move.
_____________________________________________________
I’m having a déjà vu moment.
So, here I am sitting in the Cincinnati airport waiting for my flight out of Terminal C to start boarding. Now this is an airport that I do not visit all that often, only about 2 or 3 times a year.
As I sit in this chair between the Brooks Brothers Store and the Quadoba…I am taken back to 2 summers ago, when I spent almost 6 hours in this exact row of chairs. My time in front of gates 20-37 on that trip really made a memory for me.
Here’s the story.
I was on a layover on my way back from 3 weeks in Poland. It was quite arguably one of the most interesting programs I had ever been on. Not only the destination, but the trip itself.
You know I love lists, so let me list the reasons that was my time in Poland will always be memorable. (No particular order…I know what my favorite would be, but the rest would be too hard to rank.)
1. It was the first trip my company had ever taken to Poland, and we were the first group that the local ground supplier had ever worked for. What an eye opening experience that was. We were taking these tours, and working with these restaurants that had NO IDEA how to operate with a travel group. Crazy.
2. The final few games of the world cup in Germany were during this trip. It was awesome to be in Europe when the tournament was going on! If there was a match playing, every bar in the city was hoppin’. I remember the night of the final between France and Italy. I was in Warsaw, and had found a great little Irish pub the night before that I thought would be a fantastic place to watch. I convinced 2 other TDs to come with me, and we hiked across town. When we got to the Pub (which was named Irelandska. Not kidding….hilar.), we were the only females in the joint. When we walked in, it was like one of those moments when the room goes quiet, and the Jukebox stops.
Anyway, we had a great time watching the intense game, and my motherland (Italy) beat the snotty, unsportsmanlike Frenchmen. However, the best part of the evening was yet to come. A little while after the game ended, we heard all this honking and screaming outside, and when we checked it out, it was a wild parade of Italian people driving around the city chanting and waving flags from their cars. We followed the commotion, and ended up at this little outdoor Italian bar for the rest of the evening dancing, drinking, and getting our pictures taken waving the Italian flag. Apparently there is a very small, but patriotic, clan of Italians in Poland. They were strong in fervor that night!
3. During this trip, I got the opportunity to take a train on my own from Warsaw (where I was working) to Krakow (the second stop for the group) for a quick 2 day jaunt. The journey to Krakow was one of those little adventures that turned into a great travel antidote. Here’s the quick version of the story…….
The train that I wanted to take left at 9:45 AM. Being the adventurous person that I am, I decided that instead of taking a cab, I was going to find a way to get to the station with public transportation. Normally, that would not be a big deal, but we were in Poland. And the only people who spoke English it seemed. But, hey….I’d found my way around 6 continents in my lifetime, I was convinced that since I had a map, I could get to the train station no problem.
Wrong!
I left the hotel at 8:00 AM. It was a mess, I ended up taking a bus the wrong direction……finally realizing that and thinking I was going to have to take a cab now to get back….I was not able to find a cab…..Took a subway that ended up dropping me to the apparent slums of Poland…Had some strange smelly man approach me at the subway stop, and then literally slap me with his empty crisp bag.
I finally found a small hotel where the front desk guy spoke English, and he got me a cab…that was at 9:30 AM. Once I got to the train station (which ended up being only about a 25 minute walk from where I started) I sprinted through the station, knocking people over with my bag. I got to the ticket counter at 9:40 AM, and saw a line about 100 deep. I panicked. If I missed this train there was not going to be another one until much later in the afternoon. Then, all of the sudden, my secret travel fairy (she pops her head up every now and then to help me) showed up. I overheard two guys speaking in English and they were the next in line. I took a chance…….I walked up to them and said “Is there anyway I can join you in line….my train is in 4 minutes and I don’t have a ticket yet." I think they were as excited at I was to find another English speaker, and they asked “are you going to Krakow at 9:45 AM…because so are we!” Just then the person standing behind them starts throwing a fit (I didn’t understand what he was saying, but I’m sure he was not happy about the possibility of my butting in line.)
So, the boys told me to wait by the stairs to the tracks, they would get 3 tickets, and we would hustle to the train…well…that’s how it went down. All of the sudden I see the 2 of them running towards me, tickets in hand, and we all scurry down to the track. It was like in the movies, when the train is already moving, and you are chasing the door, and we barely get on!
It was hilarious. Once we got on the traincar….we all collapsed in a cabin. Then, one of them looks at me and says “So…what’s your name?” Awesome. We all became fast friends on that 3 hour train ride. They were 25 year old engineers from Australia that took a month off in the summer to bum around with a eurorail pass. What fun we had! They had brought whiskey which we passed around and did shots of …we played cards, and even meet a group of students from Ireland that were in the compartment next to us. The 3 of us agreed to meet up in downtown Krakow that night, which we did (I brought the other TDs that were assigned to the Krakow part of the trip) and we all had a blast clubbing and dancing all night. You know what….Those 2 Aussies became the most fun stranger story I’ve ever had. Good Times. The only thing that would have made it better is if I had made out with one of them, because they were hot!!!!
That last point was so long, I almost forgot that I was making a list. This next one is very somber though …..
4. The second day I was in Krakow; I went and took the tour of Auschwitz Nazi Concentration Camp. It was the most overwhelming, incomprehensible, and moving place I have ever seen. I’m not going to discuss it here, because what I saw would be its own blog entry. Actually, it would probably be a series of blog entries. I will say though, that people always talk about moments in their life that they will be forever etched into their minds. That day is definitely one of mine.
From the very emotional to the very shallow….
5. At the time of this trip, I had been on the road for almost 7 years. In that period, I was very proud of the fact that I had never kissed another travel director (well, except for once when I kissed a TD who is gay, but I don’t count him) Anyway, streak was over after Poland. In fact, I managed to kiss 2 different TDs in a 48 hour span. Nice. 7 years…no TDs…..2 day….2 TDs. The funniest thing about it was that there were only 3 male TDs during the whole program, so I kissed 2/3 of them! Classy.
O.K. That really long list now brings me back to the Déjà vu moment (and my good deed for that week) in the Cincinnati airport…..
During that horrendous delay going home from Poland, I go so bored that I decided to organize my carryons. In my bag was this bottle of fantastic Polish vodka that has buffalo grass right in the bottle. We had gotten kind of hooked on it on nights outs in Warsaw, so I brought some, and was so looking forward to have it to drink at home. Well, I was looking at the bottle, and all of the sudden, I heard this voice say to me…
”I know it’s a long layover, but you don’t have to start drinking right out of the bottle!”
I look up and I see 2 army guys in their fatigues. I totally burst out laughing, and we started chatting. It ends up they were on a 7 day leave from Iraq, and thanks to Delta, were on their second day of sitting in the airport trying to get home. I felt so bad for them. As we were talking, the gate agent announced that their flight was delayed another 2 hours! Well, we hung out for another 5 or 10 minutes, and then it was finally time to board my flight. As I was gathering my stuff, they looked so sad, so I pulled the bottle out of my bag, and told the boys to enjoy it. Then I thanked them for all they do for us. They were so excited about the vodka! It really made my day to do something nice.
Well that’s enough about that trip. I’m glad I had this time sitting in the stupid airport to relive one of my favorite destinations. I hope to go back again someday. Polska!!!!!!
_____________________________________________________
I’m having a déjà vu moment.
So, here I am sitting in the Cincinnati airport waiting for my flight out of Terminal C to start boarding. Now this is an airport that I do not visit all that often, only about 2 or 3 times a year.
As I sit in this chair between the Brooks Brothers Store and the Quadoba…I am taken back to 2 summers ago, when I spent almost 6 hours in this exact row of chairs. My time in front of gates 20-37 on that trip really made a memory for me.
Here’s the story.
I was on a layover on my way back from 3 weeks in Poland. It was quite arguably one of the most interesting programs I had ever been on. Not only the destination, but the trip itself.
You know I love lists, so let me list the reasons that was my time in Poland will always be memorable. (No particular order…I know what my favorite would be, but the rest would be too hard to rank.)
1. It was the first trip my company had ever taken to Poland, and we were the first group that the local ground supplier had ever worked for. What an eye opening experience that was. We were taking these tours, and working with these restaurants that had NO IDEA how to operate with a travel group. Crazy.
2. The final few games of the world cup in Germany were during this trip. It was awesome to be in Europe when the tournament was going on! If there was a match playing, every bar in the city was hoppin’. I remember the night of the final between France and Italy. I was in Warsaw, and had found a great little Irish pub the night before that I thought would be a fantastic place to watch. I convinced 2 other TDs to come with me, and we hiked across town. When we got to the Pub (which was named Irelandska. Not kidding….hilar.), we were the only females in the joint. When we walked in, it was like one of those moments when the room goes quiet, and the Jukebox stops.
Anyway, we had a great time watching the intense game, and my motherland (Italy) beat the snotty, unsportsmanlike Frenchmen. However, the best part of the evening was yet to come. A little while after the game ended, we heard all this honking and screaming outside, and when we checked it out, it was a wild parade of Italian people driving around the city chanting and waving flags from their cars. We followed the commotion, and ended up at this little outdoor Italian bar for the rest of the evening dancing, drinking, and getting our pictures taken waving the Italian flag. Apparently there is a very small, but patriotic, clan of Italians in Poland. They were strong in fervor that night!
3. During this trip, I got the opportunity to take a train on my own from Warsaw (where I was working) to Krakow (the second stop for the group) for a quick 2 day jaunt. The journey to Krakow was one of those little adventures that turned into a great travel antidote. Here’s the quick version of the story…….
The train that I wanted to take left at 9:45 AM. Being the adventurous person that I am, I decided that instead of taking a cab, I was going to find a way to get to the station with public transportation. Normally, that would not be a big deal, but we were in Poland. And the only people who spoke English it seemed. But, hey….I’d found my way around 6 continents in my lifetime, I was convinced that since I had a map, I could get to the train station no problem.
Wrong!
I left the hotel at 8:00 AM. It was a mess, I ended up taking a bus the wrong direction……finally realizing that and thinking I was going to have to take a cab now to get back….I was not able to find a cab…..Took a subway that ended up dropping me to the apparent slums of Poland…Had some strange smelly man approach me at the subway stop, and then literally slap me with his empty crisp bag.
I finally found a small hotel where the front desk guy spoke English, and he got me a cab…that was at 9:30 AM. Once I got to the train station (which ended up being only about a 25 minute walk from where I started) I sprinted through the station, knocking people over with my bag. I got to the ticket counter at 9:40 AM, and saw a line about 100 deep. I panicked. If I missed this train there was not going to be another one until much later in the afternoon. Then, all of the sudden, my secret travel fairy (she pops her head up every now and then to help me) showed up. I overheard two guys speaking in English and they were the next in line. I took a chance…….I walked up to them and said “Is there anyway I can join you in line….my train is in 4 minutes and I don’t have a ticket yet." I think they were as excited at I was to find another English speaker, and they asked “are you going to Krakow at 9:45 AM…because so are we!” Just then the person standing behind them starts throwing a fit (I didn’t understand what he was saying, but I’m sure he was not happy about the possibility of my butting in line.)
So, the boys told me to wait by the stairs to the tracks, they would get 3 tickets, and we would hustle to the train…well…that’s how it went down. All of the sudden I see the 2 of them running towards me, tickets in hand, and we all scurry down to the track. It was like in the movies, when the train is already moving, and you are chasing the door, and we barely get on!
It was hilarious. Once we got on the traincar….we all collapsed in a cabin. Then, one of them looks at me and says “So…what’s your name?” Awesome. We all became fast friends on that 3 hour train ride. They were 25 year old engineers from Australia that took a month off in the summer to bum around with a eurorail pass. What fun we had! They had brought whiskey which we passed around and did shots of …we played cards, and even meet a group of students from Ireland that were in the compartment next to us. The 3 of us agreed to meet up in downtown Krakow that night, which we did (I brought the other TDs that were assigned to the Krakow part of the trip) and we all had a blast clubbing and dancing all night. You know what….Those 2 Aussies became the most fun stranger story I’ve ever had. Good Times. The only thing that would have made it better is if I had made out with one of them, because they were hot!!!!
That last point was so long, I almost forgot that I was making a list. This next one is very somber though …..
4. The second day I was in Krakow; I went and took the tour of Auschwitz Nazi Concentration Camp. It was the most overwhelming, incomprehensible, and moving place I have ever seen. I’m not going to discuss it here, because what I saw would be its own blog entry. Actually, it would probably be a series of blog entries. I will say though, that people always talk about moments in their life that they will be forever etched into their minds. That day is definitely one of mine.
From the very emotional to the very shallow….
5. At the time of this trip, I had been on the road for almost 7 years. In that period, I was very proud of the fact that I had never kissed another travel director (well, except for once when I kissed a TD who is gay, but I don’t count him) Anyway, streak was over after Poland. In fact, I managed to kiss 2 different TDs in a 48 hour span. Nice. 7 years…no TDs…..2 day….2 TDs. The funniest thing about it was that there were only 3 male TDs during the whole program, so I kissed 2/3 of them! Classy.
O.K. That really long list now brings me back to the Déjà vu moment (and my good deed for that week) in the Cincinnati airport…..
During that horrendous delay going home from Poland, I go so bored that I decided to organize my carryons. In my bag was this bottle of fantastic Polish vodka that has buffalo grass right in the bottle. We had gotten kind of hooked on it on nights outs in Warsaw, so I brought some, and was so looking forward to have it to drink at home. Well, I was looking at the bottle, and all of the sudden, I heard this voice say to me…
”I know it’s a long layover, but you don’t have to start drinking right out of the bottle!”
I look up and I see 2 army guys in their fatigues. I totally burst out laughing, and we started chatting. It ends up they were on a 7 day leave from Iraq, and thanks to Delta, were on their second day of sitting in the airport trying to get home. I felt so bad for them. As we were talking, the gate agent announced that their flight was delayed another 2 hours! Well, we hung out for another 5 or 10 minutes, and then it was finally time to board my flight. As I was gathering my stuff, they looked so sad, so I pulled the bottle out of my bag, and told the boys to enjoy it. Then I thanked them for all they do for us. They were so excited about the vodka! It really made my day to do something nice.
Well that’s enough about that trip. I’m glad I had this time sitting in the stupid airport to relive one of my favorite destinations. I hope to go back again someday. Polska!!!!!!
The Creation Museum Part 2
I know I promised that I would share my adventure among the fundamentalists at the museum, and I will.....but I'm not going to do it yet. The reason being that I took some pictures while I was there, and as soon as I figure out how to post them, I want the pics to be part of the entry. That way I can tell the story of that day without having to say "you have to see it to believe it".
So, stay tuned. I will write a blog entry on the Creation Museum. It will have photos. And you will enjoy my take on the experience. (I hope......)
So, stay tuned. I will write a blog entry on the Creation Museum. It will have photos. And you will enjoy my take on the experience. (I hope......)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
