30 April 2008
"I went down to Piraeus..."
Okay, I haven't quite made it yet, and we will not be accompanied by Glaucon, but I couldn't resist...
The big trip to Greece launches this afternoon.
We're headed over courtesy of KLM this time. I've never flown one of the big old 747s, so it ought to be interesting.
This time, if all goes somewhat according to plan, we'll be hitting the Cyclades chain -- specifically, Naxos, Amorgos, and Paros. We'll start from Piraeus (where we'll stay overnight to catch the first ferry out -- there is no other good reason to be in Piraeus), and see where we wind up.
As an aside, I happened to catch a Rick Steves show on PBS this past weekend -- he was in Greece doing what he does, and at the end there was a campy scene for the camera in which he asked a Greek tourist information desk if he could get the brochure of ferry boat schedules to the islands. Umm, right! There's no such critter, and it wouldn't fit on a brochure if there were. The ferry boat schedules are always a work in progress, especially during low season, and can change radically from day to day. The online schedule is pretty good a few days out -- but about the best planning you can do is really informed guesswork. You'll get where you want to get eventually, but you can't really do tight scheduling. And who wants to be frantic about Greek island hopping anyway?
Last time, I couldn't be bothered with a full-blown laptop, and I wound up not writing as much as I would like. This time, I'll have the eee, and may post a few updates along the way. Or I may write more about it when I return. Either way, I hope to have much more to say about the trip this time. Travel writing is a nice way of remembering the details of a trip.
Here's wishing everyone a nice two weeks! See ya on the other side (if not sooner)...
UPDATE (05-03-2008): So, KLM reservation got all screwed up because of a flight delay on their end, and they wound up breaking our party of four into two parties of two and routing us to Athens on different routes/carriers because of availability issues. We all finally got to ATH only to find a public transit strike, but used a trick to avoid waiting in an hour long line (at least) for a taxi to Piraeus. Finally got a bit of rest in Piraeus and caught a morning ferry to Naxos, which is an amazing island. Life improved considerably when we were able to ditch the airport for the open seas. Off to explore further now...
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/30/08 10:52 | Travel | Technorati | Comments (1)
24 April 2008
Reminiscent of Wild Bill
Former congressman indicted for assault (Courtney Zubowski , KHOU-11 News)
HOUSTON -- Former U.S. Congressman Craig Washington was indicted Wednesday on charges of second-degree aggravated assault.
The charges stem from an incident that happened outside of his business in the 2300 block of Caroline on New Year's. He's accused of shooting at a car.
Two teenagers are believe to have been in the car when he allegedly shot at it.
The handful of Pawhuska, OK readers here will, no doubt, have flashbacks to "Wild Bill" Ackley.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/24/08 22:21 | Other | Technorati | Comments (1)
20 April 2008
Texas Hill Country, Music and Wine Tour (April '08)
Callie and I (and friends John and Cathy) just wrapped up a fun weekend that centered on the Son Volt show at Gruene Hall Friday, and turned into some wine-tasting on Saturday.
Here's a quick update of the various places and events:
Son Volt at Gruene Hall (Gruene)
When the band announced they'd be hitting Gruene on this swing, I knew we'd have to catch them here. And unlike the show we saw at the Floores country store a while back, this one didn't disappoint. Gruene Hall is just a great sounding room, which improved things immensely (Floores was harsh, and that setlist was... not as good). Guitarist Chris Masterson seems to have settled in a bit more as the lead guy, which is good. Jay Farrar was his usual brilliant self. The old keyboard guy is now gone, and replacing him is a guy who predominantly played pedal steel (and occasional keyboard) -- the pedal steel was a big improvement. The setlist was still too heavy on the last two albums and too light on some of the classics from the first three albums, but at least there wasn't much of the weird Farrar experimental solo shite (which doesn't belong in Gruene) -- and the Doug Sahm cover seemed like a good choice at Gruene. Fiddle player extraordinaire Eleanor Whitmore joined the boys for a few songs (including Windfall, which was SWEET). Definitely a nice show (although if I never again see Bobby Bare Jr, who opened, it will not be a loss).
Prince Solms Inn (New Braunfels)
We stayed in New Braunfels after the show at this charming old historic inn, which is now a bed and breakfast. The ceilings were high, the floors were old and creaky, the furniture was antique -- all perfect. We stayed in the Huntsman Room, and were warned by the innkeeper it might be "loud" because it faced the street. It was, but seemed no worse than any urban place we've stayed. We both thought we caught glimpses of a "ghost cat" out of the corner of our eyes, which was... interesting. Breakfast at the inn in the morning was hearty. A top notch experience all the way around!
Uptown Piano Bar (New Braunfels)
Located in the basement of the inn, this piano bar was a pretty nice bar, even if the piano portion of the experience was a bit cheesy. The establishment wound up undercharging us for our drinks, even AFTER we pointed out that we thought they were undercharging us for our drinks, which may not ultimately be good for the longevity of the business.
Saturday morning, we fired up our eee pc's (great travel machines!) and scouted out nearby wineries, which we proceeded to visit in the following order:
Dry Comal Creek Winery (New Braunfels)
These folks have a nice little winery close to Gruene, and offer very informative tastings. Our crew liked their whites quite a bit (I picked up several bottles that will be perfect for a BYOB Thai place we visit), and some of their reds were interesting. I would go into more detail, but my tasting notes are downstairs and I'm lazy. Besides, you should go visit the very hospitable folks at the winery and give it a try yourself! Someone else's opinion about wine is never better than your own.
Driftwood Estate Winery (Driftwood)
This out-of-the-way winery is set in beautiful country, and there are some stunning views. As far as the wines.... eh, not so stunning. The sauvignon blanc was passable, and nothing else suited my taste (I mainly tried reds). Unlike the fine folks at Dry Comal Creek, the tasting staff here did not discuss the different wines at all, but simply announced "This is X" and poured. This wasn't a very informative stop.
Mandola Estate Winery (Driftwood)
I've heard good things about the Mandola Estate winery, and our visit didn't disappoint. The grounds are pleasant and inviting. The restaurant will be a must next time (we ordered some appetizers that we enjoyed on the grounds, but weren't hungry enough for a full meal). The wine tasting was informative (although not as informative as the Dry Comal Creek tasting), and several of the wines were quite good (I left with six bottles of reds -- a big deal, because I don't like many Texas reds that I've had). The Mandolas are definitely on to something.
It was a great little music and wine excursion. If you have the chance, check out the Dry Comal Creek and Mandola wineries (and, of course, Son Volt -- heh). They were definitely worth the roadtripping!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/20/08 21:50 | Travel | Technorati | Comments (9)
16 April 2008
Why some people call them lOSUr (cont'd)
Source: Holder interviews UMass' Ford (Daily Oklahoman)
STILLWATER — Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder has interviewed Massachusetts coach Travis Ford, a source has confirmed.
[snip]
Holder also interviewed Southern Illinois coach Mike Lowery, who turned down the Cowboys.
Travis Ford accepts job as OSU men's basketball coach (Andrea Cohen, Daily Oklahoman)
STILLWATER — Travis Ford has accepted the job as Oklahoma State's next basketball coach, several sources confirmed Wednesday evening.
[snip]
Ford, 38, just completed his third season at UMass. The Minutemen went 25-11 this season and played in the championship game of the NIT. From 2000-2005 Ford coached at Eastern Kentucky, where he compiled a 61-80 record. In eight years as a Division-I coach, Ford's record is 123-115.
Nothing against Ford, but his teams seem to compete for the NIT, and his career win percentage (51.6%) isn't as good as Sean Sutton's (57.3%). Hard to see why you push the Suttons out... for that. Well, except for the whims of the possibly-demented millionaire in charge of lOSUr athletics these days.
Oh, and those Boone Pickens millions that were going to secure Bill Self? Apparently, the allure wasn't even enough to secure the coach from Southern Illinois. Ouch!
That's some athletics department that Pickens and his lackey AD are running there in Stillwater.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/16/08 20:45 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (1)
14 April 2008
Triple digit oil prices to trigger merger mania (finally)?
It appears the rumored Delta-Northwest merger has now moved beyond the rumor stage.
I just got an announcement from NWA's Worldperks program announcing the merger, which was apparently approved by the boards of both companies today. It doesn't much sound like a merger of equals, though -- the new airline will keep Delta's name and Delta's headquarters. They say they'll keep all of their hubs operating, but it's hard to believe Memphis will survive as a hub (at the least). And it's not clear to me if the combined airline will maintain Northwest's tight relationship with KLM.
If the deal goes through, Continental can buy back Northwest's "Golden Share" that has held back Continental merger possibilities, and that likely means a Continental-United merger will follow in short order. That may get interesting, since Continental has been resistant to that scenario in the past unless its stronger management team gets to run the combined show.
A Continental-United merger could be really interesting, in that United has some routes that are not served well by Continental or its SkyTeam partners. That's a plus, along with United's experiment in Economy Plus seating. The negative is, United is not nearly as nice to its elite travelers as Continental -- so here's hoping the OnePass program survives as the main frequent traveler program if those two combine.
Hang on Continental/SkyTeam fans. The captain has illuminated the fasten seat belt sign, and there seems to be turbulence ahead.
UPDATE: Here's the Delta/NWA website devoted to the merger. You know the BS has been rolled out quickly when they're extolling "synergies" already.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/14/08 21:08 | Travel | Technorati | Comments (1)
11 April 2008
Sweet CO specials
I meant to post about this sooner.... but... it's been a busy week.
Anyway, there is still about an hour and a half to book one of Continental's travel specials from this week, and they turned out to be REALLY good this time.
The offerings to Latin America were better than usual, including the first flight to Caracas I've seen in nearly two years of watching for that particular special. There are also flights to Colombia and Costa Rica. But that Caracas one is really sweet.
I'll have to take advantage of Caracas some other time, though, as we have a fun long weekend planned for Philadelphia, starting with an early Saturday morning departure. Independence Hall, here we come. Woo!
UPDATE (04-14-2008): Philadelphia was great fun, and we stayed so busy that there was no time to pay much attention to Obama's elitist attitude towards rural Pennsylvanians or Clinton's efforts to capitalize on his condescension. The main problem was not enough time to do it all, besides take it in for future trips (esp the museums). We did hit the historical landmarks and a Phillies game (nice park, but weird flashbacks seeing former Astro Eric Bruntlett suck in the field, and former Astro manager Jimy Williams suck as head man after Charlie Manuel got tossed), got in some good driving tours, and had some nice meals. Thanks to Evelynne (and Poindexter) and Ethan for taking so much time to show us around (and special thanks to P for grabbing those great philly steaks -- mmmm!).
UPDATE 2 (04-14-2008): I forgot to mention that I took the EEE PC along on this short trip. The only bag I took was a Victorinox backpack as my carryon. It easily held my clothes (in a packing cube), toiletries, the EEE, various chargers and cables, and my book. I didn't use the EEE all that much (busy -- plus I had friends to act as concierges this time!), but it was perfect for travel -- barely noticeable in the pack. It's a sweet, easily packable, capable enough machine for those of us who like to travel light. People who want the EEE to be a powerhouse, cost <$400, AND weigh two pounds are likely to be disappointed, though.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/11/08 22:29 | Travel | Technorati | Comments (0)
Why some people call them lOSUr
Holder says he's regrouping (Andrea Cohen, Daily Oklahoman)
As Bill Self took a stage in Kansas to announce he will stay in Lawrence, questions about Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder's whereabouts swirled around Oklahoma.
Was the AD already in Nashville working on Plan B? What about a flight scheduled from Stillwater to Minneapolis?
In reality the AD was in his office, sitting at his desk, nursing a bit of a broken heart.
[snip]
"I told him he broke my heart, and I'm serious about that,” Holder said. "So I'm gonna have to kind of regroup and get over that, the loss, first. Then figure out where to go from here.”
"I think from my point of view I put a lot of energy and thought into the moment of truth with Bill Self when I sat down with him last night. I think at the end of the day I had myself sold on him coming to Oklahoma State but I couldn't sell Bill Self on coming to Oklahoma State.”
Self Rejection Is Big Punch (John Klein, Tulsa World)
Kansas coach Bill Self said Thursday that Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder did an unbelievable job in trying to woo him back to his alma mater as men's basketball coach.
It is doubtful anyone associated with OSU believes Holder did an unbelievable job.
Self is being nice. OSU fans aren't likely to be so forgiving to an athletic director that raises ticket prices, pushes a legendary OSU family out the door and then fails to land the only coach that could sooth the bitterness.
Self's rejection is a devastating blow to OSU basketball. It won't do much good for Holder, either.
Holder fires Sean Sutton and alienates the Sutton family and then fails to get the only coach that would have united the OSU fan base.There is no coach out there even close to what Self would have done for OSU.
Now, the Cowboys will have to settle for someone far less.
There is no way to spin this into a positive for OSU. The next coach will be no better than a second choice and you still have the Suttons unhappy about what happened.
If OSU could not get Self, Sean Sutton should have never been fired.
Boone Pickens and his little (unqualified to be AD a major university) buddy Mike Holder have absolutely bungled this whole basketball situation, for all the reasons laid out by Klein.
The fact is, nobody knows after this short time if Sean Sutton is a Big-12 caliber coach or not (for that matter, it's not clear if Mike Gundy is a Big-12 caliber coach, but he apparently has the Boone Pickens seal of approval in a way that the Sutton family did not). He certainly lost games at Gallagher-Iba this year that the old man would not have. But he might have grown into the job, and probably deserved a couple more years to prove himself given the fact that his family restored OSU basketball in the nearly two decades it was under their supervision.
Let anyone forget what the Suttons accomplished at OSU, here's a reminder:
When Eddie and Sean Sutton arrived at Oklahoma State University in 1990, Cowboy basketball had been to one NCAA Tournament in 25 years, had zero NCAA wins in 25 years and Gallagher-Iba Arena seated 6,381 and rarely was full.
[snip]
The Sutton era ended ... with the force-out of Sean as head coach. Three straight NIT appearances mark the end of the Sutton era, but the first 15 years were glorious.
Thirteen NCAA Tournaments. Six Sweet 16's. Three conference tournament titles. Two conference championships. Two Final Fours. And a glittering arena that seats 13,611 and was packed on many a winter night.
Eddie Sutton coached the Cowboys; Sean was point guard on his dad's first two teams, then returned after a year's absence and was his right-hand assistant for seasons.
"This is a great job,” OSU athletic director Mike Holder said while relieving Sean Sutton of that very post. "That's in part due to the Sutton family.
It's almost entirely due to the Sutton family.
OSU may find the right coach to get them back to where they think they belong, but the notion here is that despite the Boone Pickens millions, there's no reason for that program to expect to be in the Top 25 as often as it was under Eddie Sutton. Tossing all of that history aside for personal reasons may not turn out to be the best decision OSU has ever made.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/11/08 22:20 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (1)
New Thinkpads! *drool*
Gizmodo posts some juicy rumors about coming Lenovo offerings, which will allegedly be available in early June.
There is all sorts of stuff to drool over, but as a loyal owner of a nearly three-year-old T43, I'm most interested in the freshening of the T series laptops.
It looks like the LED backlighting that found its way into the stunning (but too pricey for me) X300 will find its way into the new T series laptops also. So will a 9-cell battery that takes up the space of the old 6-cells.
And if they're available in early June, as Gizmodo suggests, that means Windows XP can still be ordered on the machine (no Vista PoS, yay!) -- and that will be about the time my T43 hits the three year mark, my warranty expires, and I was planning on looking for a new T machine anyway.
Sweet!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/11/08 21:56 | Tech | Technorati | Comments (0)
Do we get the political rhetoric we deserve?
Democrats and heretics (Kimberley Strassel, WSJ)
These days, corporate bashing, closed borders and class warfare have become staples of the left. The Obama and Clinton campaigns have pushed these positions to new heights, in the process setting litmus tests for what counts as being a good Democrat.
Pharma companies? Rich and greedy. Fossil fuel companies? Dirty polluters. Multinationals who "offshore" jobs? Traitors. Americans who strike financial success? Fat cats. Developing countries working to open their borders? Job stealers. It rarely is noted that this vilification is encouraged by yet another set of lobbyists, those representing unions and environmental groups.
This is simply the ongoing slickification of American politics, and not really exclusive to the left.
As our political system continues to evolve from one of limited government to one that increasingly transfers wealth, regulates all sorts of activity, and dispenses favors, naturally more money flows to those newly political enterprises -- and in particular, to the professional political/media/PR consultants and strategists who craft and focus-group and refine these soundbites and talking points for public consumption/persuasion. We get those soundbites and talking points because they are sticky, and apparently effective at persuading majorities (or pluralities).
This doesn't mean that all the soundbites and/or talking points are necessarily untrue -- ideology can be true even though it is not primarily truth-seeking (like philosophy) -- even if the reduction of our politics to soundbite interest-group pluralism/pull-peddling does sometimes make it seem that way.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/11/08 21:48 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)
07 April 2008
There's one for show and tell
Children find severed head on beach (AFP)
LONDON (AFP) - Two young sisters found a woman's severed head while playing on the beach at Arbroath, police said Tuesday.
The grisly find was inside a plastic bag, and Tayside Police have also recovered a hand.
A specialist team were searching the beach, a police spokeswoman said.
"Tayside Police has cordoned off a section of beach at Arbroath in Angus today after the apparent discovery of human body parts," she said.
"Officers attended at a stretch of foreshore... after the grim discovery was made by children playing on the beach.
"They found what appears to be the head of a woman concealed in a plastic bag. A hand has also been recovered from the beach.
"It is understood that they belong to a woman. Scenes of crime officers are in attendance and an extensive search of the beachfront is continuing at this time.
"The items are being removed and will be subject to further detailed forensic examination."
We never found anything as cool as that when we were kids. On some nearby trails, the best I can recall running across were a dead horse and the remains of some animal that had been caught in a trap. A severed head definitely trumps those!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/07/08 11:03 | Other | Technorati | Comments (2)
04 April 2008
Houston drivers are not the best (cont'd)
U-Haul Falls Off HOV Lane (KPRC-2 News)
HOUSTON -- Three people were hurt when a U-Haul fell off an HOV lane and crashed onto a freeway, KPRC Local 2 reported.
METRO police said the driver mistook an entrance ramp for an exit ramp on the North Freeway HOV lane near West Road at about 7 p.m. Thursday.
Investigators said the driver overcorrected and the U-Haul tipped over onto the freeway below.
The truck landed on the southbound lanes of the freeway, but did not hit any cars. Most of the lanes were closed while police sorted out the mess.
Houston drivers can be impressive.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/04/08 21:52 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (1)
01 April 2008
Not Crocs
I ordered a pair of the pictured Teva sandals recently, and am really pleased with them. I think they are going to be perfect for the Greece trip in May. Not to mention bouncing around Houston most any time of the year.
And while they look a little bit like the evil Crocs, they differ fairly significantly.
Okay, they are still ugly. But there are not as ugly (or evil) as Crocs.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/01/08 21:30 | Other | Technorati | Comments (6)
30 March 2008
What they need to produce is an anti-strangelet
Asking a Judge to Save the World, and Maybe a Whole Lot More (Dennis Overbye, NY Times)
More fighting in Iraq. Somalia in chaos. People in this country can’t afford their mortgages and in some places now they can’t even afford rice.
None of this nor the rest of the grimness on the front page today will matter a bit, though, if two men pursuing a lawsuit in federal court in Hawaii turn out to be right. They think a giant particle accelerator that will begin smashing protons together outside Geneva this summer might produce a black hole or something else that will spell the end of the Earth — and maybe the universe.
Scientists say that is very unlikely — though they have done some checking just to make sure.
The world’s physicists have spent 14 years and $8 billion building the Large Hadron Collider, in which the colliding protons will recreate energies and conditions last seen a trillionth of a second after the Big Bang. Researchers will sift the debris from these primordial recreations for clues to the nature of mass and new forces and symmetries of nature.
But Walter L. Wagner and Luis Sancho contend that scientists at the European Center for Nuclear Research, or CERN, have played down the chances that the collider could produce, among other horrors, a tiny black hole, which, they say, could eat the Earth. Or it could spit out something called a “strangelet” that would convert our planet to a shrunken dense dead lump of something called “strange matter.”
I think many places in the country are already suffering from the spread of "strangelets."
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/30/08 07:55 | Other | Technorati | Comments (2)
25 March 2008
A big blunder for a Texas pol
Noriega goofs words to “Deep in the Heart…” (W. Gardner Selby, Austin American Statesman)
A video taped March 13-15 by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, promoting Rick Noriega for the U.S. Senate, yields two memorable factoids, and a singing gaffe.
Noriega, a Houston state representative, is the first Democrat to win his party’s Senate nomination in a multi-candidate primary without a runoff since 1976. And he eats his barbecue (brisket and ribs) with a napkin tucked in his shirt.
In seriousness, Noriega tells a group: “Are we going to have the resources to compete?” With whom? With Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, it goes unsaid. “I’m telling you, it’s getting ready to get tough.”
The video opens with Noriega singing what seems to be a verse of “Deep in the Heart of Texas,” though I was alerted by Cornyn’s camp that he gets the words wrong. Noriega sings: “The stars are bright and big at night.” The actual lyrics? “The stars at night are big and bright…”
Nicely done.
You'd think they might have budgeted some money to FIX the gaffe in the video. That they did not is probably reflective of just how little money the national party intends to spend on a race it's unlikely to win.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/25/08 23:31 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (3)
Endorsing Rev. Wright
First, irritation (Letters, Houston Chronicle)
All of the hoopla about the comments of Pastor Jeremiah Wright recalls the old adage that the truth will set you free — but it will first piss you off.
STATE REP. HAROLD V. DUTTON JR.
Houston
It's surprising to see any pol endorsing "Reverend" Wright's extremism as "truth." Wow.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/25/08 23:06 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (2)
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