Ride to the wall

Memorial Day in the Washington region One of the local traditions the annual "Ride To the Wall" also known as "Rolling Thunder" begins in FrontRoyal every year [atleast a significant portion of it]. Friday a large amount of bikes begin to gather, most enjoy riding Skyline Dr. and the surrounding valley, by Monday there are thousands of motorcycles when the actual ride kicks off. If you have any appreciation of for motorcycles you can view evry size and style as well as some unreal custom scooters. Of course Harley Davidson is most prominent. As one guy told me yesterday "you can bring your rice burner but you have to ride in back

Making your own excitement

Most people know there isn't much to do in Spotsylvania. Untill now the most recent newsworthy event occured durring the civil war. Thanks to this guy On Sasquatch's trail in Virginia's Spotsylvania County We are all on the edge waiting for the verification of Bigfoots existance. I'm sure after this article was published the "Bigfoot Hotline" he monitors wil be lighting up like yankee stadium.

Frozen Bozo Alert

Via an article in Wired, it looks like New Yorkers have an opportunity to get up close and personal to the Scott-Amundsen race to the south pole.

In 1910, two men set out to be the first to reach the South Pole in a race that would be both heroic and tragic. The men had different reasons for their journeys, took different routes and made different decisions that would ultimately seal their respective fates, and those of their teams.

The American Museum of Natural History delves into this storied event to bring visitors as close as possible to this historic event and the people involved in their new exhibit, “Race to the End of the Earth,” starting May 29. Artifacts, photographs, replicas and models give life to the two rivals and their treacherous 1,800-mile marches to the center of Antarctica.

And all from the air conditioned comfort of the museum. Hard to beat that.

Author Interruptus

I enjoyed the first two books of Stieg Larsson's trilogy, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and the Girl Who Played with Fire. I'm (so far) patiently waiting for the third to come out in paperback. If you didn't know, Larsson died shortly after the third book was finished. That means we won't be getting any more, and it means he didn't even live to see them published. The NYTimes has a terrific article about him and his complicated legacy. If you've read the books or you're thinking about reading them, the article offers a very interesting backdrop.

Dara and I saw the Swedish movie with subtitles a while back. It was quite true to the book, which means it had some rather painful scenes in it. Dara might appreciate learning that Larsson's title for the book when it came out in Sweden was “Man Som Hatar Kvinnor,” or “Men Who Hate Women.” I don't think I would have been successful getting her to go to the movie if it had that title!

Another Grand Tour

I know you were all on the edge of your chairs wondering what happened to Jessica Watson, the Australian I blogged about earlier who set out to become the youngest person to do a solo circumnavigation. After 23,000 miles, quite a few knockdowns, engine trouble (we know how that makes refrigeration an issue!), torn sails, and god knows what else, she finished! And after all that, she doesn't even get listed in the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC) list for youngest non-stop circumnavigation because she is under 18. Not so surprisingly, I don't think she gives a damn.

The Grand Tour

It was a grand tour, even if it wasn't quite the Grand Tour. Kyla, Dara, and I spent three days in Rome, and four in Florence. On the way to Florence, Kyla and I took a side trip to Pompeii. At the tail end of our Florence visit, Garrett, Mom, and Missy flew into Rome for a few days and then met us in Florence. From there, we learned how to drive like Italians and made our way out to the middle of nowhere to a villa in Tuscany for a week, between the two tiny hill towns of Radicondoli and Belforte. We dubbed the week: Under the Tuscan Rain. No matter, we still managed to visit Volterra, Siena, and Montepulciano in addition to a few soggy hikes. More pics on the way soon from Dara, but here are some highlights.

Trevi Fountain in Rome, on our evening walk back from the Borghese museum.

The coliseum the next morning.

Enjoying some octopus ink on fresh pasta.

The forensic scientist takes a close look at the evidence in Pompeii.

From the top of the 414 step climb of the Duomo in Florence.

Dara's postcard-quality photo of the Ponte Vecchio from our final night out in Florence.

Bruneleschi, who figured out how to build the famous dome on the Duomo, and me.

Reunited in Florence, standing in front of Santa Maria Novella.

Now that's a villa in Tuscany! And sadly, pretty much the last sun for the week, other than a few breaks in the clouds and rain.

In Volterra, Missy finally catches up the cinghiale she'd been hunting all week.

A little bread, prosciutto, salami, and pecorino cheese to make us feel like Tuscans.

Missy followed the GPS down an increasingly small dirt road, asking Kyla to move this rock out of the way, before she finally gave up, backed out, and tried another way to the villa.

Mom taking in the view in Siena.
And this was the view from the villa across the hills during one of those breaks in the clouds.

The crew in Montepulciano on the way back to Rome.

Birds & Boars of Tuscany

Here are a couple of the the birds we should have had the book to identify. I believe the big bird in the yard was an Azure Winged Magpie. Also - I looked up the Hoopoe. What a great sighting for Mom & Steve! Some notes indicate it as a rare bird. BUMMER that I missed that guy! The illusive but every present European Cuckoo. No wonder we couldn't see this him, he's so blandly colored he must blend into every background.

Last but certainly not least...
Here's a baby Chingale - awe he' so cute! Apparently we Mom was onto something when she thought we could use the boars to dig up truffles.

Photos later - what a great trip!
Hugs to all...
M

The Harris Way of Asking

Dara has long referred to a phrase such as "Would you like some spinach?" as the Harris Way of Asking. That's because at the Harris dinner table, when you want the spinach and the person at the other end of the table isn't passing it on, it's just proper etiquette to avoid asking for it directly, and to gently remind the other person that, well, someone might want it. Today I learned this is the Guesser culture:

This terminology comes from a brilliant web posting by Andrea Donderi that's achieved minor cult status online. We are raised, the theory runs, in one of two cultures. In Ask culture, people grow up believing they can ask for anything – a favour, a pay rise– fully realising the answer may be no. In Guess culture, by contrast, you avoid "putting a request into words unless you're pretty sure the answer will be yes… A key skill is putting out delicate feelers. If you do this with enough subtlety, you won't have to make the request directly; you'll get an offer. Even then, the offer may be genuine or pro forma; it takes yet more skill and delicacy to discern whether you should accept."

Now you know!