Overseas with MRJEFF

Greetings from Friesland (Fryslân) from Your Pal MRJEFF. We're on the second day of the Big Bike Ride around the northern Netherlands. Yesterday we were lucky enough to ride for several kilometers in the rain through sheep shit. Today has been sunnier, and the sheep have been confined to areas off the bikepath, so I guess that's better, if perhaps less authentic. Here's hoping my stuff dries out soon!

Oops -- gotta go. Lunch break is almost over, and we have 11 km more, which should be a comparative walk in the park. Of course, Langdon would probably leave me in the dust...

Until next time,
MRJEFF the cyclist
Sloten, the Nethelands
26/07/04 01:41 PM

Downtown

An Inappropriate Comparison

Now then. Is it just me, or does UPS's new logo remind you of Adolph Hitler?




I'm just sayin', is all...

Where's MRJEFF?

Over the next two weeks Your Humble Narrator will be on a trip around his ancestors' homeland.

By bicycle, no less.

One hopes there will be opportunity to Euroblog at some point or another. Sadly, there won't be much about the Democratic Convention. Perhaps another blogger will take up the slack on that.

One also hopes that MRJEFF doesn't fall into a canal and drown. (Be not afraid, Gentle Reader - if this does happen, you can be sure that you'll read about it in this blog, with pictures!)

Bridging the Bay

A fascinating website from UC Berkeley: Bridging the Bay Online Exhibit

Especially interesting is the Unbuilt Projects section, which includes plans for additional bay crossings, alternate visions for the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges, and the incredible Reber Plan, which would have dammed the Bay and created two huge freshwater lakes.

(If you think the Reber Plan would have been a monstrosity, then you don't even want to think about NAWAPA.)

The Smoke from a Distant Fire

The fire started just over the ridge from our home, fortunately on the other side of the 14 freeway, which acted as a firebreak for most of Saturday. The air was a strange Armageddon-like orange colour and one of our neighbours came over to see if we were packing up our valuables yet (we weren't). On Sunday morning the fire was moving away from us and seemed less of a threat so my husband and I went to see friends at Redondo Beach, mostly to get away from the smoke and ash, which is everywhere, the ash piling up in little drifts like snow. While we were sitting on the beach, which is a good 45 miles away we suddenly saw a huge plume of smoke go up in the distance and knew it had to be the fire again.

Susanna Luck, Santa Clarita, USA

Rashomon - The Musical

From the world of the theatre comes news of the upcoming world premiere of R Shomon:

A park. A thief. A priest. A psychic. A murder. A miracle. A lie. The truth. From the composer/librettist of Broadway’s The Wild Party and Marie Christine, comes a world premiere new musical, suggested from the short stories of Ryunosuke Akutagawa, that explores the many facets of reality, faith and love with a contemporary, lush score.

The cast will include Six Feet Under's Michael C. Hall and Tom Wopat.

...


MRJEFF has spoken with several people who have seen rehearsals, but reports of the play's quality, and even its plotline are oddly conflicting...

Thomas Frank in the NYT

Wonderful op-ed by Thomas Frank, Failure Is Not an Option, It's Mandatory in the 7/16 NYT. Why would the right-wingers in Congress put forward a constitutional amendment they knew was doomed to overwhelming failure? "Losing is prima facie evidence that the basic conservative claim is true: that the country is run by liberals; that the world is unfair; that the majority is persecuted by a sinister elite."

Peligro! Abejas!

Your pal MRJEFF learned a new word today: abejas.

...

Abejas?



AHHHHH! BEES!!!

desolation

Iceland: Nökkvi Elíasson photographs deserted farms (and more).

HULK'S DIARY

Everybody Has a Blog, Part XXXII: HULK'S DIARY

Boxer for Senate 2004

You may have heard that your pal MRJEFF recently attended a Barbara Boxer-oriented event chez Rashomon.

The junior senator from California was on C-SPAN this evening, arguing against the "Federal Marriage Amendment". And I have never been prouder of my senator.

ONE WEEK ONLY! Metric: Combat Baby @ iTunes

This week's free iTunes song: Metric's Combat Baby.

Of course, those of you who are still bound to the mp3 format can download this song from Epitonic.

Whichever you choose, MRJEFF recommends most highly!

Police Chase

What fun! Another police chase in Southern California! When your pal MRJEFF first tuned in, the alleged criminal was on southbound on the 5, moving past Dodger Stadium. (Interestingly, due to post-9/11 air traffic rules, the news choppers had to give the stadium a wide berth.)

And now the perp has moved from the westbound 10 to the 405 south toward LAX. And, incidentally, past MRJEFF's Culver City abode. Your Humble Narrator counted four-ish helicopters following, but was unable to see how many ground units were en chasse.

The cameras had to break away due to cloud cover over LAX, but soon resumed pursuit over Inglewood city streets, and then to Redondo Beach, where the suspect abandoned his vehicle, ran through the streets with a gun to his head, and, thankfully, quickly surrendered peacefully. The system works. Local geography lesson complete.

John Derbyshire Sucks (part 17)

My goodness, how I hate John Derbyshire:

Although, back of the smile, there is the dull, sad realisation that our people could never be so clever and devious. I get the same feeling about the War on Terror. Not only does the Devil have all the best tunes, he has the best tricks, too.

See, the problem with us conservatives is, we're too nice. Just don't know how to think dirty.

Hm.

soulbinder: We are living in 1984.*Reaches for Orwel

Here's a clever analysis of one passage from 1984, by some Live Journal-ist.

Designs on the White House T-Shirts

and other t-shirts, at Designs on the White House.