More pages: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.

The journal itself was a very handy Moleskine City Journal (Barcelona Edition), packed with city maps, bus routes, underground stops… and a pocket in the back that contained the following:

You can also read my then-live dispatches from Barcelona, and view photos from our trip in the 2007/09 Barcelona gallery.

A full transcript of the journal appears after the jump.

Itinerary

Key to Matt & Sara Packing Laptop Bag Books Check Cat & Water

CHECK IN - SDF 09/19/2007 4:45 PM - Atlantic Southeast (Delta 4581) 8:00 PM Delta Flight 114 -> BCN

CHECK OUT - BCN 9/28/2007 1:05 PM Delta 114 Check in for seats! 9:45 PM Delta 824 -> SDF 11:05PM

SEPT 19 Departed Louisville 1:15 late - our flight was scrubbed due to “mechanical problems”. Re-routed to later flight to Atlant (6:05 P vs 4:45 P) - which shortens our layover to almost zero! Hustled to our gate with a Spanish lady who was in town (Lou) b/c she is a brand manger for Br. Forman - specifically Jack Daniels. We go to the gate just as they were boarding. ATL is quite nice! THE TRAINS - THEY RUN ON TIME! A grupo of students on the 767 with us. Generally more fashionable than US kids. Hip eyewear, etc. Attention to dress is notable - but perhaps just the style. I am wearing a jaunty hat, one with a feather. I thought it would be appropriate. Maybe it is just funny. I have asked to remove it for the lady seated be me who wishes to watch the in-flight movie - “Georgia Rule” with Lindsay Lohan. Kelly does not approve

SEPT 20 On the bus to Plaza Catalunya. Despite the yard high “WANTED” posters for the Basque separatists (ETA) security at El Prat was fairly light - at least compared to my prior encounter w/ int’l travel, which was Canada. Canada interviews you for a few moments asking about your hometown, why you are there, etc. Not here! A quick glance at your passport and that’s it! Even customs isn’t more than a glance. THough, there are heavily-armed polic upon exiting the airport via road.

Hotel Inglaterra is a smallish affair - but it modernly adorned. We have a balcony out to the street which is wonderful. Very tired, but we decided to take a squick walk down to Pl. Catalunya & the H&M that is there. A lot of well-dressed people here! LIke Chicago but to an extreme. Glasses are definitely vogue - esp. ones with square ends. - It should be noted that the music I heard here so far is slightly out-of-date - but so much so that it’s cool again. Mid-90s. “I can tell by the way you walk…” Jarvis Cocker? Lemonheads? - Ate a short lunch @ TAPA TAPAS (44 P/Graig). Some tasty fries w/ aoili, apella mixta topped with a mussel. Met some backpacking Kiwi girls. Very nice! They noted they learned no Spanish in school Are going to Denver in Dec/Jan. Walked the Ramblas to Mare Magnum on the Harbor. Had a beer @ Cafe Lirica. Living statues: silver pirate, table, Edward Scissorhands, scary bike thing. Sat and watched people go by while enormous beer plied me with it’s creamy ways. I do not know what beer this was. Good head, slightly creamy. Lager I assume. Attempting to stay awake to a “normal” hour. May not be possible.

Sept 21 Slept until about 9AM this morning. Back on track! Ate at a cool little tapas bar last night - right up the block from the hotel. d’Or was it’s name. Kelly and I had a .5L each of Spaten (German beer). I had the “Rip-Hack” sandwich (shredded spiced steak), Kelly had the Catalan - a sausage and ham sandwich. Patatas bravas as well - friend potato cubes w/ a spicy sauce. At Starbucks now - I ordered a black coffee which they referred to as “American” cofee. Kelly thought maybe they meant coffee for an American. Considering they don’t have black coffee on the menu, I’d assume it’s the former.

La Boqueria is a large open-air market right in the middle of Las Ramblas. Filled with a dizzying array of fruits, vegetables, fresh meats and seafood. Kelly and I page 3 Euro for half a pina y a bowl of fresh fruit. Two bocadillos (filled rolls) with spicy ham/turkey & cheese was 4,20 Euro. We walked back up to El Triangle (a large mall just west of P. Catalunya) to eat. Next stop - La Universidad to pick up our packets for the race Sunday.

It should be noted that the pan con tomate here is pretty prevalent.

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Scooters are everywhere as are bikes. Mostly commuter affairs, multi-geared. A lot of portables, too. Very, very few bikes wear helmts - but 95% of scooters do. Bikes are always on sidewalks. Saw a Hell’s Angel with Spanish colors yesterday.

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Waiting in line for packet pickup for La Cursa de la Merce’. Skateboarders are prevalent in the city. We are at the University Plaza and there are two at the moment. One grinding the benches (stone) and practicing pop shove-its wearing his UK SUBS t-shirt.

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Just saw a man wearing a bright orange vest with a sign on his back that said “BCNG: NO VOTE AL HEREU”. He is also wearing a gas mask & a red cap w/ a yellow star.

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3PM - At the Sagrada Familia after a good walk from the University Placa. Gran Via was very busy so we walked along C/Deputidos to C/Marina. Sagrada is fascinating. It is at once a mirror of nature adn yet it also celebrated the linear in that nature. Hardly a right angle in it’s facade - ther may be non that I can see.

5PM - Walked from the Sagrada to a little place inside a marker on C/Ribes - La Tobada. I had a Damm + 2 bocaditos, one with red, spicy thin-cut sausage before and another with the Catalan ham that make the Boqueria smell funny. Kelly had un “Bikini” which is pretty much a normal sandwich. She also had horchata which also tasted odd.

5PM cont. - We are at the Museo de Xocolat on C/del Comerc. Two “Xocolta grans” and some school-baked “millandras” set up back 6,60 Euro. The chocolate is sweet - a taste like chocolate pudding without the gel. Very tatsty with these little biscuits. Funny taste in the biscuits tho’. That smell/flavor seems to be in everything in Barca - the water, the biscuits, the meat. I have classified it as a bit of “wet dog” smell, but not terribly.

C/den Gignas!

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10:30 PM

[Kelly's entry] OMG I’m trying so hard not to break Rule No 1 (stay upright). Ben and I managed to finish off a pitcher of Sangria w/ our tapas. (fried arty-chokes, salted cod, chickpeas + spinach and some bizarre egglant + sardine thing that I swear would be better warm) (establishmet: taller de tapas. it was yummy. The (Rbl de Catalunya sur de Valencia - ed) “room” (i.e. the street, we’re easting OUTSIDE!!!) is moving, a nice, softly sliding to the right. We’re going to get ice cream next! Helado! Woo-hoo! I’m tore-up!

Sept 22 - Correfoc day! Ate breakfast as a joint on Las Ramblas - had an “English breakfast” served by a frantic little man in a bowtie. A dog roamed the open-air restaurant freely as int’l visitors from all worlds passed thru. Early this morning we were awakened by a really loud trask-pickup of mostly bottles. We hadn’t been awakened by anything previously. Kelly dreamt she was in a car-crash.

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2PM - Went to the Ramblas H&M after breakfast - I was dog tired likely due to dehydration - legs are so tired from walking! We stopped in TRAVEL BAR on C/Boqueria for a bite to eat and to watch some of the Rugby World Cup - to it’s on at 2PM.

In rugby you make your own kicking tee out of a bucket of dirt! Howabout that. Such things you learn. At Travel Bar, one wait for food! Staff is largely English speaking, though! Not to self: must take Cholly on rugby road-trip.

3PM - Having ate and drank our fill at TRAVEL BAR we headed back out to the streets. Ate delicious choco helado @ Cacao Sampaka.

8:45PM - Via Laietana Kelly and I headed from the hotel to the Ramblas. Many people on the streets - drum corps and band all over the place. Down to C/Jaume I and then to a throng of people @ Via Laietana - the ambulance and people in full riot gear tell us we are in the right place!

11PM THAT WAS INSANE! People dressed as devils with sticks with firecrackers on the end of them - they are lit by what amounts to a crew chief and then they emit sparks for about 30-60 secons and they explode with a loud report. Each devil bounces forward, spewing sparks on those in the streets. It should be noted that care is given not to involve those who don’t want to be involved. Children are aplenty, though - many on their own, but many with partens. The teams are very well-orgranized, seemingly they are neighborhood organizations with their own style - but must (all) with their own drum corps, devils and support crew.

Each team has their own “fire box” filled with supplies that they push behind the devils. The order is always devils-support crew-drum corps (tabalers). It is very well-organized and it was completely the safest inferno I’ve ever been to. We headed back to the hotel to rest up before the race in the AM. We did stop by d’Or again - the roll call is on the previous page.

d’Or 1 Spaten 1 plate Padro’n peppers 1 plate calamaris Romana

Sept 23 [Kelly's entry] Wake up call @ 7:30AM, we roll out of bed @ 8. A quick breakfast of oatmeal bars that we had left from the plane ride, and then we headed down ot the Placa Espana for the race.

Apparently the races over here do not supply you w/ safety pines to put your bib on with (and we couldn’t find any yesterday - it might have helped if I had known the word for “safety pin”) I scrounged one from off my purse, but Ben was just carrying his in his hand. A nice woman gave us 2, and I found another on the ground. Also, since my Nike’s that I was wearing have weird laces, I had to fasten my timing chip on with dental floss.

Once the race started, we were fine. A lot less jostling than local races, but there were few, if any walkers (or if there were, they knew to line up in the back). The course took us back towards the Sagrada Familia and through neighbourhoods we’rd already toured. Ben + I got separated at the halfway point, and I didn’t see him again until km 9, when the race went both directions on one street (BTW, I was head :)) The last km was all uphill and Ben + I both were passing people like crazy. At the finish I managed to yank the dental floss off, and grabbed some water and a Coke. No bagels, just Coke. Also, most runners wore the race shirt, a Day-Glo orangae thing. In the US, it’s bad luck for a lot of people to wear the race shirt before they finish the race. It was weird to stand out wearing all black.

[Ben resumes] We returned to the hotel and took showers, etc. We wanted to go to the Boqueria and fetch some bocadillos and fruit but the Boqueria is closed on Sunday. Instead we headed west towards El Ravel and got sandwiches as Mar Mandizabal - a cool little walk-up bar. Mine had serrano ham, goat cheese and mango! Then lightly grilled. Delicious! We walked up to the MACBA (museum of art) - and found that iti si free tomorrow thanks to the holiday that is El dia de lam Merce’! So, instead nothing the weather had turned very nice we headed northwest up to Parc Gueel, Gaudi’s outdoor creation. The subways here are pretty nice, but damned hot at times!

3PM - Parc Guell The Vallcarca station on the MTB Green Line was claimed to be the “easier” route to Parc Guell. The Lonely Planet guide book mentioned a climb to get there, but in the shape Kelly and I were in that was torture! It’s a huge climb, tho’ made easier by about 1/4 mile of escalators. Beautiful view!

5PM - Kelly and I wandered about quite a bit. It’s east to get lost in this freeform park. Amazing view of Barcelona from the top. Headed down through the “Zona Forest” + Saint Salvador’s fountain - shame it wasn’t running today! The fountain went into a large pool and then down a channel in the stairs, nice and secluded. Manes houses up in these hills. Reminds me a fair bit like Hollywood. Saw a great vista of the Monserrat Abbet on the mountain framed by two pine trees. Many hill were walked to bring back photos and memories. We rejoined Parc Guell and walked down to the large open plaza, with the curvy bench. Took a seat next to an old trumpet player and relaxed while a young man proposed in front of the large crowd on the plaza. He must have been somone of reasonable means as he had a camera crew + sound guy with him. A big! camera.

Ciutat Comtal! Montaditos de Jugabo ham! Kelly had Dammn Lemon, I a Damm Estrella [Kelly cuts in] (Mine was better!! Lemon start, beer finish) Serrano ham on brochette, the potatoes w/ tomato y aoli, shrimp + squid, bread and manchego, and these awesome chicken and ham croquettes. I want to eat them all the time. Ben kept wanting to order more and more because, as he put it “it’s all so tay-stee!” I convinced him that we should hold off and head down to Valor (a chocolate place) a little down the road.

- [Kelly] Side note: with tomorrow being a holiday here in Barcelona, we’re hoping that a lot of the restaurants aren’t closed. We may starve. There is one oatmeal bar left in the room… (and I’m sure the international chains, i.e. Starbucks, McD, Burger King, will be open, which I guess would do in a pinch.

- [Kelly] An aside - we have seen plenty of dogs, a few rabbits, some chickens, birds, and hamsters, but until to-day no cats. We finally saw 2 (at different places) at Park Guell. I tried to pet one but he was too fast.

- [Kelly] 10PM - Valor Why can’t we live in a country where you can order liquid chocolate at a cafe? After a bit of confutions as to whom took our order, our drinking chcolate (xocolata maia para mi, xocolata sonoscuro para Ben) arrived. I would gladly give up a mean or two a week and replace it with real hot chocolate. It is liquid yum I want it ALL THE TIME.

Sept 24th Breakfast @ Viena a Las Ramblas. Chicken hot sandwich + Bock-Damm beer. Cafe solo and little catalan croissants. Walked from there to Museo d’ Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA). Many interesting installation here, mostly mixed media or film. Large exhibit of Joan Jonas.

3:30PM From there we travelled to the Museo Nacional d’Art (MNAC) - but it was only open ’til 2:30 due to the national holiday. We’ll be coming back. It’s an impressive collection of Roman, Classical, Baroque + Modern (to 1940) art. Plenty of stairs, too!

We exited and enjoyed the expansive view from the Palau Nacional (where the MNAC is) of Barcelona to Tibidado. Just behind the MNAC lies the Olympic Stadium so we took the strol and enjoyed the hulking, shrouded Stadium and placas.

9PM We returned t othe hotel for a bit and had a short siesta, being tired from all the hill-climbs. Being a holiday the Ramblas were full of people - and seeing as how many public attractions were closed, we decided to do some souvenir shopping. Kelly had her eye on one of the “Barcelona” bags apparently licensed by the city and I wanted a Catalunya shirt. Half by happenstance we passed by Taverna Basca Irati, a taps join that worked like this: you pick your tapa off a plate - eat it and save the toothpicks. Each toothpick is 1,70 Euro. Turn in your plate and voila! Your check. It was wonderfully delicious. Probably the best tapas yet. Minced cod w/ tomato and garlic, delicious smoked salmon and sauteed onion. Olives, peppers and sardines. Tuna steaks and ham croquettes. Kronenberg lager to drink! We wandered around more and stopped to watch an international b-boy crew. Gave them 2 Euro each for their great show. Also watched a bumbled juggler. The b-boys where pros! The head dude spoke English, Spanish, German, Italian, etc. We continued down to the waterfront and encountered a wine and cheese festival! XXVII Mostra de Vines y cavas.

Sept 25th (Tuesday) 9:30 AM Checked into bed last night and watched the Man U/Chelsea game. 2-0 Man U. This morning we were glad to see the Boqueria open again. I had a delicious cheese + spinach pastry + a “natural” crossant, pineapple and water. Kelly had a chocolate pastry. We also bought two bocadillos for lunch. My sammich is that thinly-sliced red sausage and Kelly’s is serrano ham. Delicious! We are currently @ Placa Reial waiting for the Gnarly Charly bike tour.

A tour guide in the Placa here is explaining that the giants we’ve see are all created by the individual neighborhoods and that the street performers are all licensed - they are cheap, but very limited!

3:15PM - MNAC Look up following: 7-eyed dog, the torture of St. Llucia. St. Vincent dogs/wounds/etc. Modest Urgell - Paisatge Ramon Casas - Ramon Casis i Per Romeu en un tandem

Had the full run of the MNAC today - amazing collection of Roman (1000AD) art - all religious. Fantastic altar pieces set in surrounding as they would have been “in situ” Most of the collections focused on Catalunya or Barcelona. Off to Camp Nou!

6PM Camp Nou - 50 years old - industrial, set in a busy sort of in-between neighboorhood called Le Corts. We circled it and stopped in the mega-botiga. All little cheaper here than elsewhere. I had heard that scalpers abound and that you could find them near the ATMS that double as ticket vendors. An old man mentioned “Tiquets! Tiquets!” I stopped and flashed two fingers he said “Si! Si!” He asked me for a pen and wrote “30″ and “48″ on the back of his hand. I asked him “Cuanto cueqest” but he looked at me and said “You see tickets across the street”. We were standing on Camp Nou ground and I gather scalping on the property is a no-no, after all club members are the only ones doing most of the scalping. He motioned across the street to an apartment building and said “amigo”. Looking across I saw another man waiting furtively - again maybe in his 70’s. We corossed and had a seat on the bench - I assume to keep the law off our backs. He showed me the tickets, which were off a perforated strip. The first set were 48 Euro, which was a little steep for Kelly and I. The second were 30 Euro which I was OK with. I made sure there were next to each other motioning until the old man said “junto!” and pulled close. The wanted 70 Ero even - which oddly the first amount the ATM gave us to withdrawal. I didn’t feel were were getting robbed - they had honest faces and appear to be two old chums out to make a buck. We paid them in broad daylight and I shook hands with the “amigo”. Elated by the experience (Camp Nou isn’t in the best of barris), Kelly and I headed to the nearest Metro with our quarry. We’ll see tonight if the tickets are good! I have reason to see why they aren’t. The website for FCB showed tickets available in our same section, but for 5-13 Euro higher. Dinner at a fantastic falafel joint Maoz - also found two Barca based graphic novels for HMD.

Sept 26th 2:15 L’Aquarium Shark tunnel is brilliant! Penguin exhibit OK - Newport is better, I think. Aquariums are similar, but Shark Tunnel(s) here are longer and with cool moving sidewalk. Many sharks would keep Holly happy.

3:00PM I should mention we’ve stopped into a few hobby shops - a lot of car/train stuff, mostly models, slot cars, etc. A few planes here and there - nothing recognizable save for a Thunder Tiger plane. Scalextrics is big, as is Tamiya. Stopped at Mare Magnum - big mall on the harbor. Earlier, made the plush pengy and shark we bought fight and then make up.

3:55PM Things to note: lack of good water, general flow of foot traffic, very few small courtesies (saying “hello” in a shop, saying “thanks”), “stop” buttons on toilets, almost everyone asking for ID w/credit. lack of public restroom (or WC, serveis), lots of people with broken arms. Facial piercings (mainly labret/lip, “beauty mark”), un-natural hair colours on older women.

Sept 27th 3:45 Pintxo d’Paxti, Txapena Lunch @ Pintxo - fascinating barista pouring was I assume to be the local “cava” - a sparkling wine like champage from a bottle 3 feet above the glasses, spalshing it everywhere, occassionally hitting the glasses. Order by number - delicious sausages and skewered shrimp mushrooms and bacon. Ham croquettes - loin marinated with adobo and garnished with kosher salt. Need to try the stuff in the barrel - orange and carbonated. Also a delicious cherry tomato and mozarella thing. Wandered around town a bit looked for souvenirs, etc. Bought two FCB buffandas (scarves) for 10 Euro each.

6PM - Sitting on the solarium @ Hotel Inglaterra More about the football match. Very light lines to get into Camp Nou. Getting there was no problem. Trains relatively light going to Collblanc station on the L5 line. FOllowed a jersey-wearing German. Kelly insisted we take a right at the stadium to get in - circling the same direction as when we toured it the day before. Mistake! We had tickets to enter Access #2, and we started at 16 heading ot 17. Long way around, but the walk was OK and the fans excited - singing the Barca songs. Many foreign fans - French, German, Brits, even overheard some US kids. Entry into the stadium suprisingly easy. Access gate attendant torn corner of your ticket. Then you look for your “porta”, ours was #88. There they scan your ticket. I don’t think you are allowed access anywhere else. From there you are patted down by private security. (Also notable was the Mossos d’Esquadron in full riot gear outside the Stadio) Then you walk down a few flights of concerte stairs and look for your “Boca”, ours #49. Seeing the pitch at eye level through one of the entryways was exhilirating - like seeing Wrigley Field for the first time, but with 70k die-hard fans in the seats. I was shocked to find that our seats were field level, 5 rows back (so slightly above the field). We were behind the north goal to the right of the goal.

A goal view was just fine for me! We watched the Real Zaragosa goalie warm up. The opposing team is announced first and with each name read - a hiss! Very short, controlled. Barcas side is announced and with each name, a “Hey” is let loose, appropriately loud as per the popularity of the player. Both Ronaldinho and the captain Puyol (midfield) where out this game, so the loudest cheers with to Messi (f) and the frenchman Thierry Henry. The Barca song is sung, and I didn’t understand a wordy, save for the BAR-CA (barsa), BAR-CA, BAAAR-CA! 70,000 fans make a most impressive noise. As kickoff neared, Kelly brought out the sammish we brought (bought in La Boqueria htat morning) and I went to fetch a refreshment. I noticed that, unlike US baseball stadiums, there is no way to get to other sections of the stadium! If you are in Porta 88, you stay there! There was a two-tier refreshment area - the only one for our section. The bottom was a grill - grilling sausages for bocadillos and selling patates xips (potato chips) and the top selling drinklys. Curiously I noted that you couldn’t buy alcholic beverages! Only Damm SA (sin alcohol) was available in a cup. Sodas and water were allowed as were coffees. The cokes from cans - which you had to have decanted into a cup and the water all had to have their caps removed. I suspect these measure are to keep the peltings and other shenanigans to a minimum. That’s what hooliganism will yet ya! (Also notable - the “no Nazi flag” symbols. Make you wonder what’s in the hotdogs. In totla, three people were manning these booths and traffic was light compared to US baseball. Soccer never sleeps and only during halftime (a short 15-20 minutes, maybe) did these see much action. Football is also only 90 minutes, whereas the typical US baseball - or even football game will last that long. Upon kick the songs being. Behind us and the the left is a flag-waving corps of maybe 30-40 that starting singing these different chants - Ron-al-deen-yo! or some Barca based song that I don’t understand or, and perhaps these were my favorits - that involved liberal use of the work “puta”. When the scored reached 4-1 Barca then the chants got a little ridiculous.

Sept 27th cont 10:00PM TRAVEL BAR Overhead: “Yeah, when I managed a Dominos back in the States” Kelly and I just successfully managed the streets of Barce for the last time, finding a cafe and chocolate joint called “Cappucino” near Hotel Suizo on Via Laietana. Xocolate en la tass and a croissant dipped in chocolate on both ends in what I gather is a Barca custom. Delicious thought not necessarily up to what we had at the Museo d’Xocolat - but what the hell, it’s chocolate in a cup, who’s complaining?

Hand another encounter with “The Hang” - that steel drum/gong/drum sorta instrument over by the cathedral on the way to TRAVEL BAR. Different guy this time bu likely all the more haunting on this cool, moonlit night with on us and the hang player in the alley. We stopped ’round the corner to listen to the harp-like sounds. It has had quite the effect on Kelly and I both. It will be a lasting memory of this place, compunded by the area of town, the setting, the acoustics, the whole happenstance of it. One of those great travel memories forged out of circumstance.

Kelly and I have ordered some rather large lagers here at TRAVEL BAR. I had hoped to see the Real Madrid match at 22:00 but ??? we’re watching American dance videos.

(cont) Ordering in this place is a little strange. We came in and sat down at a 4-top near the bar and waited patiently, but were never approached. I went ot hte bar and ordered a pint apiece of San Miguel and something called “Scrappy Jack” for myself. The bar maid looked at me as if I as ten ???, and cocked her head a few times peered at the taps and then said that they had only London’s Finest on tap. “That’ll do” An odd exchange considering English is the dominant language here. Oh well. (interjection: KElly wishes she could hoola-hoop. Her beer is almost 2/3rd gone - ed.)

Kelly and I chatted about our trip ofr a bit, and taking stock of the people see around this bar, we half expected to see our old firned Art Black pop out of one of the many vinyl-only record stores beating out dub reggae.

(Pause: I watch Madonna’s “Hung Up” video on the TV) Damn - I love that song. ‘Specially that bit at the with the build-up.

Speaking of the patronage, I noticed quite a bit of the punk and goth stuff prevalent in the late 90’s (and today) but overwhelmingly in the Ramblas you’ll find a lot of dreadlocked rasta kids and backpackers and the like. Out on the streets proper, you’ll likely find the Ramones represented well. A healthy Muslim communicty in El Raval, all mixing with the old Catalans that put with the turistas like me in the Boqueria in the AM. I could get into this. I love the idea - but I’ll admit that doesn’t make much long-term sense means 2.5 kids, dog, cat, 401k and the like. The experience we’ve had is all too fleeting but very, very worthwhile.

Sept 29th 1:20PM EDT Back in Louisville after some 16 hours in transit. Having conversation with my normal tongue is a welcome pleasure. Also had a hotdog and a fountain coke for the first time in a long time.

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Tomorrow, I will cast my vote in Louisville, Kentucky, Precinct D130 at Klondike Elementary School for Barack Obama. And below is why I will be doing so…

Civility in Government

The last 8 years of my life, I have seen the reputation of the United States of America go from a vibrant, hopeful and welcoming place to a self-centered, dogmatic and stubborn cloister. You could likely blame that on 9/11 or the economic woes of our irresponsible economic optimism, but when faced with those challenges the current administration tightened up its belt and stomped through the yard like an angry old man. Refusing to resort to the politics of peace and diplomacy while seemingly ignorant of the harm it was doing to we, a nation of individuals.

The rights and hopes of the individual, both home and abroad, have been treated with a disrespect unseen since the Cold War.

Call me wistful if you will, but I couldn’t help but to imagine what the prior administration would have done in similar circumstances. Clinton could be downright reprehensible at times, but he was always the consummate professional and mindful of the United States’ place as a leader and role-model for the rest of the world

That is what I am hopeful for with an Obama victory. To bring this nation back to a place where we are respected not out of fear, but admired because of our treatment of not only the people within our borders, but of those which our actions may affect. We cannot be a nation of frightened, confused and easily provoked individuals. That is not the nation that we began as and that is not our future.

The War and it’s Future

I was and always have been against the War in Iraq. Though, when the deed had been done and we were solidly there I believed that it would not be wise just to extract ourselves from the beehive that we had stirred up - I didn’t believe that would be responsible or would have the desired outcome.

I have come to change my stance.

Our war there is an unwinnable one and as it did when we invaded, it shows a remarkable lack of respect of sovereignity on our part. I want our military out of Iraq now.  Our being there will only cause further aggravation and I believe with some civility returned to our own government we could begin to influence an international peace in that region.

The Rights of the Individual

So often in the last 8 years, I have seen policies that favor the nation and discount the individual. Whether it is the Patriot Act, healthcare or civil rights - these things have been given less weight than defense or the top-end of our economy.

Our individual rights granted to us as citizens are part of what makes our democracy novel. The guiding priniciples of our government should seek to benefit the individual with the ultimate goal of benefiting the nation.

Healthcare

Healthcare is an issue on which I feel strongly. I believe that it is our duty as a nation of individuals to help to provide that to all. Like roads, libraries and our own defense. No one in this country should fear becoming ill. While I am fortunate enough to have always had health insurance, I know plenty that go without. And should they fall ill, they should know that they will always be treated to the best of our nation’s medical ability.

The Continuing Civil Rights Struggle

Barack Obama’s campaign represents to me the triumph of those “Individual Rights” that make our country so full of promise. The confidence in those individual rights were the bedrock of the many great Americans that stood before him on the precipice of great change - Martin Luther King, Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass and countless others. Those incremental challenges have led to where we are now - when a man of mixed race is not viewed as some novelty, but as a serious and competent leader.

The perspective that he has on this issue will hopefully shape many of his decisions - sometimes in small measures, sometimes in grand. To have his perspective is uniquely American and best represents the nation as a whole.

What an amazing step forward we have already taken in casting aside race in nominating this man for president! When I was in 4th grade (1987) and we held a Democratic primary election in our classroom (keeping in mind that it was at least 80% white) - the man who won was Jesse Jackson. Looking back, it would have been a terrible choice if it had actually happened - but consider that a roomful of white children in a Southern state chose a black man as a candidate. I knew even then that our generation was taking a step forward by casting off our segregationist history. I feel proud about that time, and that is one reason why I feel proud now casting a vote for Barack Obama.

Equal Rights for All

And if the future will follow the past, the next major struggle we will see in America will not be over race, but over the rights of the gay community. To not treat these people - these friends and family members - as equal citizens with equal rights is on par with any sex or race discrimination. As ridiculous as considering women or non-whites partial citizens with partial rights, so is considering those who do not and can not follow the given path of man-and-woman. It is my hope that the breakthrough that would be electing Barack Obama would continue to debase the injustices against the gay community.

In Closing

I am voting for Barack Obama tomorrow because I believe in his attitude towards government as an institution for the people, by the people. I believe in a nation of individuals that respect the rights of the individual, and respect the power of individuals united in a common cause of life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We, perhaps unlike any nation on this planet are comprised of so many walks of life, so many different beliefs and so many opportunities that we cannot and must not retreat into policies of exclusion and negativity. Hope and liberty are what we as a nation were founded upon and with out it we shall fail.

Let’s start off with a little levity… one of those “man bites dog” stories:

Bicyclist Runs into TARC bus. A bicyclist ran into a TARC bus this morning near Meyzeek Middle School…The cyclist had a coffee cup in one hand and lost control, causing the accident, Russell said…The bicyclist suffered minor injuries and was taken to an area hospital, Russell said. Courier Journal, Oct 13 2008

A coffee cup? Seriously? Did he have the saucer in his back pocket? Sigh.

And before we move on - I linked to the Courier-Journal’s website even though it is A) terrible and B) needs to get rid of its comment section. Let me go on record as saying it is a terrible place to read news.

On riding 5 days a week. It is hard. Despite the fact that our ride is only 6 miles or so each way, it takes a good toll on a man (and his legs). I don’t necessarily feel it in my legs like I do when I run, but I am definitely feeling spent at the end of the day and by the end of the week I was pretty wiped. We (Matt and I) can feel a definite decrease from  Monday to Friday.

I am making things tough on myself a bit, though - I’m riding a singlespeed (no changing gears for me on the hills) and I’ve attached a rack and fenders and normally have a Nashbar grocery pannier attached. I carry cans of soup and my clothes in there - uphill to work.

And yet, the graph show us what? Matt has been keeping track of his stats (heart rate, cadence, speed, time, even GPS tracks) and has been using Google Spreadsheets and it’s new charting geegaws to show in graphical form his improvement. Our speed is trending up and hence our time is trending down (yay). Matt’s cadence (pedal revolutions per minute) is trending up as well (that’s a good thing). But, perhaps the best news of all is that his heart rate is on a downward trend as well!

So, speed up, time down, heart rate down too means that he’s in better shape and considering I’ve been right there alongside him I’m probably close to those trends as well. Huzzah!

I’ve seen evidence of Matt’s improvement as well - whereas I used to leave Matt behind on hills, he is more often now right close by - partially due to the fitness thing, but also because I think he’s learned to ride his bike “better” (more efficiently). Again, huzzah.

And therefore… It would follow that this whole ordeal has so far been pretty beneficial for the both of us. And with all due respect to Mateo, I think this shows that anybody could ride a bike to work. Matt didn’t exactly train for Biketober, and has so far done 10 days of cyclocommuting and hasn’t audibly complained once. I think he even called it “fun” at one point.

So yeah, it rained on Day 4 on the way home. It was actually kinda awesome (I thought so, Matt was withholding comment) - with the exception of the splashy-splashy from the wheels. Matt also mentioned something about constant stream of water flying in his face when he was travelling behind me -  but I can’t double-source that actually happened. :)

It was slated to rain on the way to work on Day 5 in the morning, and I wasn’t really looking forward to getting all splashy-splashy on the way to work.  Fenders to the rescue!  Cheap fenders.  Fenders inspired by the Internets - Kent’s Bike Blog Coroplast Fenders.

I went to my local Lowe’s and picked up a blank coroplast yard sign for $6 (which is !@$& highway robbery, but I digress). With that I found I could easily make 4 sets of fenders as pictured above.  I had some plastic zip ties already and I was set.  A quick measuring job told me that 13 “flutes” wide (the little segments in coroplast are called flutes) for the actually fender parts was right on. The length of the sign was actually just right as well. I cut some 5-flute wide fender supports for the rear and trimmed them appropriately.

Rear fender-y thing

Front fender thing!

Worked like a charm in the rain that morning and Matt reports that rearward projecting rainwater from my tires was effectively reduced to zero.  The front fender works great as well - my feet were kept somewhat less wet from splashy-splashy from the front tire. I may make some front fender supports to wrap the fender around the front tire.

It’s been a pretty busy week in the cycling world with as much bad news as good. Meanwhile, the ride has provided me some time to gel my thoughts on cycling safety. More after the jump…

We’ll get the bad right out front - Jen Futrell was struck and killed by a van zipping around a TARC bus on Bardstown Road last Tuesday, September 30th. A ghost bike has been installed at the scene - and you read all you could want to know here: http://shoot-the-messenger.net/jen/. Two days later, a UofL student was struck on Broadway but was luckily not injured seriously. Biketober was certainly not off to a good start.

A Note About Helmets
Ms. Futrell wasn’t wearing a helmet - obviously we’ll never know if it would have saved her life, but it certainly wouldn’t have done any harm. Point being: wear a damned helmet. The only time I don’t wear one is when I’m tooling around my secluded neighborhood which has extremely little traffic. Anywhere else I’m wearing one.

Further Notes on Safe Riding
Here are the things that I concentrate on when I ride:

• Visibility
• Awareness
• Communication

You’ve got to own the space in which you ride, or it will own you. Driving is mostly a visual experience and the best way to own your space is be in the mix and be bright. I remain visible with lights, like the Planet Bike Superflash I purchased from the Mountain Bike Depot which has proven it’s reputation as “the best taillight on the planet” in the few days I’ve had it. I also have a totally hackish headlight - a Harbor Freight LED flashlight wrapped in rubber bands and held on with more rubber bands. $8 and you never know when you are going to need a rubber band… or a flashlight.

I also ride in the right 1/3 of the rightmost lane - usually in the right-hand wheel track. Hugging the shoulder or the curb doesn’t give you a safe place to go and encourages drivers to squeeze past you in the lane. Give yourself the room you are allowed on the right and “own the lane”.

When I’m riding my bike, I am constantly hyper-aware of everything going on around me - at least 5x moreso than when I’m in my car. And most of the awareness is me gauging one thing: Are the drivers aware of ME? That one little thing is so critical - you must never assume that a car is paying attention to you until you see them actually looking at you. I will lock eyes with a driver who is either going to cross or turn into my lane - I’m sure it’s a little odd for the driver, but that’s the only way I know what a driver is going to do.

Matt and I both ride with those goofy little rear-view mirrors that hang off your glasses. They are great for quickly checking who is coming up behind you. It’s easier and more importantly quicker than looking behind you, so you can get back to looking where you are going.

Lastly in the “communication” front - I always signal where I’m going to other vehicles. Even if I’m going straight through an intersection, I point straight ahead. The less confusion the better - I have no desire to do a headstand on anyone’s car hood because they were turning left and I was going straight. Changing lanes is always a bit risky on the bike. I normally plan my lane changes way in advance and then try to time them when the traffic is light, and while signaling I take up my ENTIRE lane so no one can sneak around me or think I’m just waving my left arm in the air. Finally, in the advocacy department - I always make sure to wave to people who give us the go-ahead at a stop sign or who pay enough attention to their surroundings to still realize we are behind them after they pass us. A little smile or a wave or an audible “thanks” breaks the ice between cyclist and “inconvenienced” driver.

Biketober Route Report
Most of the traffic on our largely suburban commute has been pretty easy to get along with. Taylorsville Road and Plantside Drive are both two-lane roads with a turn lane in the center, so people have plenty of space to avoid us. Most drivers do, but in the minority are those who yell, honk, pass too close or speed up to get around us at a stop light. Luckily I can count those folks on one hand in the first week of Biketober.

The passing too close thing is really rather frightening on a bike - and I gather that (having been a driver for a while m’self) you don’t really recognize the sound and fury and overall imposing figure of an approaching automobile doing 45 MPH while you are safely in your car. You definitely do when that car is passing you on your bike doing 15 MPH.

Biketober News Roundup
Congress Passes Bicycle Commuter Act - $20/mo tax credit per commuter per business to offset stuff like racks and lockers.
Louisville Police Chief stars in Bike Safety Spots - The ‘Ville Voice has been covering the recent bike news pretty well and turned me on to the city’s bike spot.

Biking in the Rain
Dang that was kinda fun today! It was raining pretty steadily today when we left for home. I haven’t done much riding in the rain (save for the epic 2008 Muncie Triathlon) and I’ve got to tell you it’s great. Yes, it was a little chilly, yes I was a little soggy - but hey, when was they last time you were in the rain and you didn’t care?

Meanwhile, I think I need to come up with a cheap fender solution - and I’m likely to copy something like what I’ve seen over at Kent’s Bike Blog - coroplast and zip ties!

One last note: singlespeed
I ride a bike that has only one gear. It’s a converted 1987? LeMans Centurion road bike that had some seriously bumpy wheels on it. I swapped them out for an inexpensive wheelset and Nashbar’s Singlespeed conversion kit and a new chain. After a little tinkering around with the right gear ratio for this moderately hilly city in which we live, I landed on a 42/16. It’s just tough enough up the hills but fast enough I can keep up in traffic. It’s simple yet challenging and it will make me a better rider. Also, it’s just sharp lookin’!

All I know is that Matt Rasnake and I are going to attempt to ride out bikes to work every day in the month of October. Not exactly a tale of epic proportions or anything, but definitely something worth noting, I think.

You bike commuting folks in major metropolitan areas are probably thinking “wow, way to go, you hayseeds! I do that every day,” but let me tell ya that it just doesn’t happen so much here in Louisville. I’m seeing more and more bike commuters here in Louisville, but it’s still kind of a novel thing for our suburban-sprawl town.

Bike commuting is becoming more popular, not only because we “Got a War On” or “Oil Prices are Sky High” or “The Economy Is in the Toilet”, but because Louisville has been rolling out a bike-friendly city plan over the last decade. We’ve got 30 miles of bike lanes (in fits and starts all around the city), and just last week the city announced $4.9 million dollar grant from the state for bike friendliness improvements. Thanks to the [Review] of the State’s Bike Grant to Louisville over at State of the Commonwealth, I now know that some of those improvements are slated for Taylorsville Road (near my home) and the Bluegrass Industrial Park (near my work). Huzzah!

Here’s my ride from Home to Work:

View Larger Map

More later - a diary may ensue.

aka The Trial and Tribulations of The Dangville Ocho Stinkos, Weeks 3 and 4

This week in the Power Creative Fantasy Football League, the Dangville Ocho Stinkos clashed with Charlie Dillon’s “The Widow Makers”. Would Aaron “Favre Who?” Rodgers continue to be as good or better? Would Terrell Owens’ head inflate to the size of a basketball. How did my Kicker Round-Robin do? Details after the jump.

Previous weeks: 1, 2

Week 3

Dangville Ocho Stinkos (1-1) vs The Widow Makers (1-1)
137.20 - 91.05

Lineup:

QB - Aaron Rodgers, Packers
RB - Joseph Addai, Colts
RB - Michael Turner, Falcons
RB - Michael Forte, Bears
WR - Terrell Owens, Cowboys
WR - Greg Jennings, Packers
TE - John Carlson, Seahawks
K - Ryan Longwell, Vikings
DST - Bears

A win for the ol’ Stinkos - and in dominating fashion! I am now 2nd in total points in the league, trailing by 7 to The Intimidating Mascots. I took the gamble and started the fledgling Aaron Rodgers this week and he followed up his 29 point Week 2 with a 21.5 Week 3, throwing no passing touchdowns, but rushing in a TD in the fourth quarter. He also threw for 290 yards, which is just fantastic. Meanwhile, Big Ben Roethlisberger, my now-backup QB injured his hand and had 4.15 points. Win for me, boo for Big Ben.

Joseph Addai woke up this week, too, rushing for 78 yards (more than his first two weeks, combined) and 2 goal-line TD’s. And just when I considered trading him… ATL’s Michael Turner, my “other” RB again outshined Addai, rushing for 100+ yards again and scoring 3 TDs! He’s turning out to be the bargain of my draft. But the real winner was Michael Forte, the rookie RB for the Bears. He had 90 rushing yards and more receiving yards than Terrell Owens! The dude is a double-threat! He’s also currently 4th in the league in rushing yards with 306. Michael Turner leads it all with 366. All three of my RBs scored 20+ points this week. It was good week on the ground.

On the wide receiver front, I started the Cowboys’ Terrell Owens and the Packers’ Greg Jennings. T.O. had an absolutely terrible game, catching 2 passes for 17 yards and netted me 2.7 points. THPPBT.  Greg Jennings, on the other hand, had 115 yards on 8 receptions, but didn’t get a TD. He netted me 15 points.

Meanwhile, over on the Kicker/Tight End carousel, it would appear I made some OK moves. The Vikes’ Ryan Longwell kicked two FG’s and two XP’s for 8 points. John Kasay, who I dropped for Longwell scored 5. You’ll remember that I dropped the 49er’s Vernon Davis as my tight end and picked up John Carlson from the Seahawks. Davis scored 2 this week. Carlson scored 4.8. So-so there, but whatever.

Also, the Bear’s defense didn’t suck - 10 points out of a starting 12. They’ve been better, but like Kickers and Tight Ends, they are really there just to hopefully not suck rather than being great.

Injury Updates

As previously mentioned, my #2 WR, Marques Colston, tore his thumb off in Week 1 and isn’t slated to be back until mid-October at the earliest. This week, he was finally put on the Injured Reserve.

Week 4

Dangville Ocho Stinkos (2-1) vs Overpaid Convicts (1-2)
111.25 - 72.75

Raaaaghhhhh!! The Stinkos cannot be stopped! 4th straight week of 100+ points, baby! Lineup looked like this:

QB - Aaron Rodgers, Packers
RB - Matt Forte, Bears
RB - Michael Turner, Falcons
WR - Derrick Mason, Ravens
WR - Terrell Owens, Cowboys
WR - Greg Jennings, Packers
TE - Heath Miller, Steelers
K - Ryan Longwell, Vikings
DST - Chargers

On the Tight End Round-Robin I dumped John Carlson (who had a bye this week) for Heath Miller and it pretty much fell flat with Miller nabbing only 2 points. Joseph Addai was also on a bye week this week.

My starting QB, Aaron Rodgers sucked this week, compared to Week 1, 2 and 3 Rodgers. But Roethlisberger sucked more, by some .20 points, so good call on my part. Rodgers is also injured with a sprained shoulder - but he’s expected to suck it up like Favre would do and play in Week 5 and then build a home for Habitat for Humanity at halftime.

Meanwhile, both of my RB’s I started this week (Matt Forte and Michael Turner) cooled off considerably from Week 3 netting a combined 17 points. Forte had nearly as many receiving yards (42) as he did rushing yards (43)! Versatile, that one.

The wide receiving corps was the crew that really bailed me out, with both Terrell Owens and Derrick Mason (an unappreciated, consistently middle-of-the-pack receiver) both came down with 17.7 points a piece, with Mason grabbing 137 yards on 8 snags. But the real darling of the team this week was again Greg , who has become the favorite target of Aaron Rodgers and netted his 3rd game with 100+ receiving yards and 2 TDs for 25.9 points.

Injury Updates

Marques Colston is still shopping around for a donor thumb - no timetable yet.

NEXT WEEK: The Dangville Ocho Stinkos vs Bela and the Lugosi. Stinkos currently favored by 23 points!

]]> http://thelocust.org/blog/2008/09/30/my-fake-teams-football-weeks-34/feed http://thelocust.org/blog/2008/09/18/live-blogging-the-2008-world-soaring-masters http://thelocust.org/blog/2008/09/18/live-blogging-the-2008-world-soaring-masters#comments Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:34:34 +0000 ben http://thelocust.org/blog/?p=919

The 2008 World Soaring Masters is this weekend! It’s a huge, multi-national remote-controlled soaring contest held once every two years up in Muncie, Indiana.  You may remember that I covered the World Soaring Masters in 2006 and had my updates published in the November 2006 issue of RC Soaring Digest (pp 4-16). This year, I’m headed up there to compete in what should prove to be a fun and exciting event. Looking forward to meeting some of the great international competitors.

This year, I’ll be covering it again - but this time I’ll be LIVE BLOGGING it over on the Louisville Area Soaring Society website. The contest runs Friday-Sunday, so keep hitting “REFRESH”:

2008 World Soaring Masters Live Blog @ LouisvilleSoaring.org

aka The Trials and Tribulations of the Dangville Ocho Stinkos, Week 2

This week in the Power Creative Fantasy Football League, the Dangville Ocho Stinkos clashed with the “Cup Busters” (managed by one of those creative types in the other building).  Going into the matchup, I was a reasonable favorite to win… details after the jump.

Previous weeks: 1

Hurricane Ike made his presence known throughout the Eastern US this week, boy-howdy! Cancelling games in Houston, like the Baltimore Ravens/Houston Texans game on Sunday and in baseball, forcing the Astros and the Cubs to relocate to Milwaukee (where Carlos Zambrano pitched a no-hitter!)  The Houston/Baltimore game is being rescheduled for November 9th, so I dumped the Texans kicker (Kris Brown) and picked up John Kasay who kicks for Carolina. The kicker round-robin begins already!

My lineup this week:

QB - Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers
RB - Joseph Addai, Colts
RB - Michael Turner, Falcons
RB - Matt Forte, Bears
WR - Greg Jennings, Packers
WR - Terrell Owens, Cowboys
TE - Vernon Davis, 49ers
K - John Kasay, Carolina Panthers

Meanwhile, on the bench say Aaron Rodgers, upstart QB for the Packer who replaced Brett Favre. Rodgers did pretty well in his first game out.  I chose to start Roethlisberger because he was up against the Cleveland Browns whom he dominated last year in Week 1 with four (4) TD passes.

That was a mistake.

Not so much that Roethlisberger sucked (which he didn’t), but that Rodgers was so much better. Big Ben got me 12.3 points, with 186 passing yards and a single passing TD. Rodgers, on the other hand, blew up with a Tom-Brady-esque 328 passing yards, 3 passing TDs and even 25 rushing yards.

Roethlisberger: 12.3 points
Rodgers: 26.9 points

So, Rodgers might be for real.  But two games is an awful small sample size on which to go formulating predictions. I’ll consider the matchup this next week, but it’s looking like Big Ben has some competition. Either that, or I’ll trade off Rodgers to one of the Packer nuts here in the office.

But, back to the game at hand. Addai was my first pick of the draft, and so far he’s been a colossal wash, netting 15 points for me total in the first two weeks. Word on the grapevine says that the Colts are looking to “get back to basics” which is taken to mean that Addai will hopefully become more of an option for Peyton Manning. He better have a 15+ point game in either Week 3 or 4 or I’m dumping him to one of his fans in the office.

My “star” running back from Week 1, Atlanta’s Michael Turner, fell back to earth netting me only 5 points after a dazzling 35 point week with 220 rushing yards and two TD’s. At least I know he is capable of great things. Addai, however, has yet to produce… at all. A total of 64 yards in two games. There are a couple dozen RB’s in the league who have more than Addai. C’mon folks!

My two WRs, T.O. and Jennings (who has become fave target of Rodgers, it seems) combined for 40+ points.

As our power was out (see the details here: Windstorm ‘08) on Monday night, I went to sleep with the Cowboys game at halftime, and T.O. already having scored 22.4 points, leaving with a .5 point lead over the Cup Busters. We both had two players left - I had T.O. and the Cup Busters had the Patrick Crayton, who also plays for the Cowboys.  Certainly T.O. would catch a few more passes in the 2nd half, right?!

Wrong. T.O. didn’t touch the the ball in the 2nd half. Patrick Crayton, however, did. Connecting with Romo in the fourth quarter for a 16 yard pass, netting the Cup Busters 1.6 points and the win in week 2. I really can’t blame T.O., though - he did make up a big gap for me, as I was some 20+ points down on Sunday. Let’s talk about who really came up empty:

TE - Vernon Davis, Zero (0) Points

Vernon Davis was thrown four (4) passes from 49er’s QB J. T. O’Sullivan who threw for a combined 321 yards on the day.  Just ONE catch from Davis would have likely put me over the top this week, but instead I got a goose-egg. Guess who got dropped for Seattle’s TE John Carlson?  That’d be you, Vernon Davis. Clean out your fantasy locker.  The tight end round-robin begins.

FINAL SCORE: Dangville 108.8 - Cup Busters 110.65

Well, I’m 1-and-1 this season and feeling pretty good about my team.

Problem Areas
Joseph Addai - Concussed twice early this season. Not getting the yards or the attempts.
Marques Colston - Out 3-5 more weeks with a torn thumb ligament.

Highlights
Aaron Rodgers - Favre who?
Greg Jennings - Rodgers new fave
T.O. - Let’s get a good T.O. quote in here: “The Lord has obviously blessed me with a lot of talent”. Yeah, there we go.

NEXT WEEK: Dangville vs. The Widow Makers. The Widow Makers are managed by none other than Power Fantasy Football Commish and all-round great dude, Charlie Dillon. I look forward to making him weep.