September 30, 2005
Serenity Now
Joss Whedon's new film, Serenity, is out today and much of the geek crowd is standing in an anticipatory puddle of drool. Based on his now-canceled Firefly series, the film is actually getting some good reviews. I have the Firefly series on DVD, but I haven't gotten around to watching the whole series yet. Whedon did say that it wasn't necessary to have watched the series to enjoy the film, but I tend to be a completist about these things. If a movie based on a book is forthcoming, I usually try to read the book first. The little bit I have seen of the series has me intrigued. Gene Roddenberry liked to characterize Star Trek as Wagon Train in space, but Firefly is much more explicit in its references to Westerns. And the trailer for the movie includes some scenes of a really cute girl kicking all kinds of ass, which for me is a sure sign of cinematic excellence.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:29 PM | Comments (2)
September 29, 2005
How The Mighty Fall
History tends to repeat itself, even if we are sometimes slow to recognize those repetitions. The indictment of Tom DeLay in many ways echoes the scandal that surrounded Democratic Congressman Dan Rostenkowski over a decade ago. Soon after Rostenkowski's fall, the Republicans took control of Congress. I don't think the current ethics impairments of assorted Republicans are enough to tip the scales of power in favor of the Democrats, but it's a start. I think people want reform. I think people want a government that is efficient, transparent, and that rewards merit instead of cronyism. But Democrats need to make reform part of a larger message that concretely addresses the everyday concerns of people. Recently, I watched a friend struggle to navigate the bureaucracy of a large HMO as he attempted to get health insurance for his kids. It's these frustrations that Democrats not only need to speak to, but to which they can offer concrete solutions. And Democrats need to convince people that they are up to the task of leading this country.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:55 PM | Comments (0)
September 28, 2005
It's Getting Hot In Here
The amount of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is shrinking in what seems to be a self-sustaining trend. In other words, more open water absorbs more solar energy, causing more ice to melt. Of course, Republicans will probably stamp this study as "junk science," which they tend to designate anything that might even hint at global warming. I have little doubt that the U.S. will eventually offer a vigorous response to global warming, but I think we'll have to wait for an administration that doesn't brand all scientists as left-wng, godless zealots. Unfortunately, by that time, it might be too late to save some of the coastal regions and Minnesota's winters might feel more like those in Kansas.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:46 PM | Comments (0)
September 27, 2005
Alma Mater
My ten-year college reunion is next month. I'm pretty sure I won't be going. The thought of the five-hour drive from the Twin Cities to Green Bay (and repeating it two days later) doesn't sound too appealing to me right now. Er, not to mention that most of the events are in inaccessible locations, at least as I remember them. But perhaps I'll leave a message on the alumni bulletin board to brag say hello. I'm thinking back to my college years and, ugh, I was such a dork. A lot of it was typical twenty-something angst and insecurity, but I was still at a phase where I was really self-conscious about my disability and I was struggling to appear as "normal" as possible. I wanted to drink and get high and get laid, but because of various external circumstances (a lack of open-minded nurses, for one) none of that happened and I remember plenty of nights sitting at home and watching television and feeling sorry for myself. Actually, I probably could have gotten laid if I had tried a little harder and shown a little more bravado instead of constantly worrying that other people saw me as a freak.
I'm not saying I have it all figured out now. But a part of me wishes I could travel back in time ten or twelve years and tell that dork to relax and have a little faith in himself.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:52 PM | Comments (3)
September 26, 2005
Adaptation
One of my favorite novels of the last ten years, The Sparrow, is getting the screenplay treatment. While part of me would love to see a film version of the story, the book is thematically complex and I'm not sure it would translate well. My hunch is that the Hollywood types are drawn to the book's aliens and spaceships and think they might have another War of the Worlds on their hands.
*** SPOILER ALERT ***
But then again, War of the Worlds didn't have the protagonist being anally raped by the aliens. I'd like to see how the screenwriter handles that little detail from the book.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:59 PM | Comments (0)
September 25, 2005
Tweaking
I spent part of today trying to reconnect with the book. After an extended break from writing, I was beginning to feel a little guilty about neglecting my writing. The plan is to make substantial progress towards completion of a first draft by the end of the year. I also did some fiddling with computer stuff. I've been wondering why I always got crappy download speeds on torrent files. Today, I finally realized that I needed to open a few ports on my router. Holy crap, what a difference. My downloads are now, to borrow another regional dialect, wicked fast. Not sure why it took me so long to figure out something that should have been relatively simple.
And can I just say that having my TiVo hooked up to my wireless network is, like, really cool? I used Galleon to do a slide show of my Europe photos on the television and to play some of my iTunes playlists on the stereo. I love it when technology works the way it's supposed to.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 06:25 PM | Comments (1)
September 24, 2005
Stage Presence
My friend and I were treated to a remarkable concert last night. Bono has enough charisma to fill a city block. He could come across as pretentious at times, but I was willing to overlook that given some amazing performances of songs like "Pride" and "Sunday Bloody Sunday." I'm pretty sure there was at least one song from each of their albums, including the often-overlooked but personal favorite Zooropa. I was also surprised to hear them perform "Miss Sarajevo," a song that most people probably don't know but that has a really interesting backstory. Human rights and peaceful coexistence were recurrent themes during the concert, creating a vibe that starkly contrasted with the crass glitz of the 1997 POPMart show that I saw. One image that I won't forget is when Bono asked everyone to take out their cell phones, which have replaced lighters as beacons of rock-inspired solemnity. For a couple minutes, the whole Target Center was filled with a miniature galaxy of pale blue stars.
This was also one of the longest concerts I've attended, clocking in at more than two hours. I would gladly have paid double what I did to see such a performance.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:05 PM | Comments (1)
September 23, 2005
Rattle And Hum
Leaving shortly for tonight's U2 concert at the Target Center. The last time I saw the band was eight years ago at the Metrodome. The acoustics weren't great, but it was still a good show. Plus, I kind of got felt up by a drunken concertgoer. But that's another story. I'll post some thoughts on the show later tonight or tomorrow.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 05:34 PM | Comments (0)
September 22, 2005
Here Comes The Rain Again
I hope you all enjoyed the pictures that have been posted over the last several days. It's given me the opportunity to organize my own memories of the trip and to recall some of the fleeting moments that can get lost in the shuffle. Like the memory of sitting at a cafe near Place de St. Michel and watching a street musician methodically set up his guitar and amp. Or the memory of pigeons flying over the Berliner Dome against a darkening sky. Before I left, I thought this would be a once-in-a-lifetime trip, never to be repeated. But now, I'm pretty confident that I'll return to Europe in a few years, either back to Paris or someplace new. Rome definitely sounds appealing and I've heard great things about Spain. And if I feel really ambitious, perhaps I'll try making it to Sydney. The world's a big place, but not those distant places are not as far out of reach as I once thought.
Last night's severe weather in the Twin Cities, which included the touchdown of a F2 tornado, is dominating the news around here. Of course, it all seems trivial compared to the imminent touchdown of Hurricane Rita. Stay safe, everyone.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:26 PM | Comments (1)
September 21, 2005
A Tale Of Two Cities
This is a view of former East Berlin from the top of the Reichstag. Ten years ago, the horizon would have been filled with hundreds of cranes as part of the massive rebuilding that took place after reunification. Today, some construction continues, but on a smaller scale.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 06:54 PM | Comments (0)
New Addition
When the Reichstag was rebuilt, a glass observation dome was added to the top of the building. Inside the dome visitors can walk up a spiraling ramp while taking in some spectacular views of the city.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 06:47 PM | Comments (0)
Halls Of Power
The building behind me is the Reichstag, where the lower house of the German Parliament meets. The Reichstag was heavily damaged in the war and was left in ruins when the West German government moved to the city of Bonn. After reunification, the government moved back to Berlin and the Reichstag was restored to its former grandeur.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 06:44 PM | Comments (0)
September 20, 2005
The Wall Comes Crumbling Down
Of course, the whole reason I went to Berlin was to see my brother, who's finishing up his Ph.D. dissertation. Here we are in front of a remnant of the Berlin Wall in Potsdamerplatz. The German government didn't make much of an effort to preserve much of the Wall after it fell, but there are a few pieces scattered at various displays throughout the city.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:08 PM | Comments (0)
Never Again
This is the recently completed Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe near the Tiergarten park in Berlin. A lot of controversy surrounded the design of the memorial. Some think it's too abstract, but I thought the slabs of concrete and the narrow pathways had a certain elegaic quality that worked well.
I thought this photo was appropriate in light of today's news of Simon Wiesenthal's death.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:00 PM | Comments (0)
September 19, 2005
Unified
This is the Brandenburg Gate, probably the most famous landmark in Berlin. Originally built in the 18th century as a symbol of peace, it was located on the east side of the Berlin Wall for nearly thirty years. It now symbolizes a unified Berlin and a unified Germany.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 05:24 PM | Comments (0)
Now This Is Goth!
On the train ride from Paris to Berlin, we had a layover in Koln. The Kolner Dom, a gi-normous Gothic cathedral, is located right outside the train station.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 05:15 PM | Comments (0)
September 18, 2005
A Taste Of Home
One of the most famous bookstores in Paris is Shakespeare and Company, located near Notre Dame. The store sometimes provides temporary quarters to aspiring writers and while we were there, we could hear the sound of someone typing (on an actual typewriter) coming from one of the second-floor windows.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 06:50 PM | Comments (1)
Public Square
This is Place des Vosges, the oldest public square in Paris. The writer Victor Hugo once lived here.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 06:41 PM | Comments (0)
September 17, 2005
Picture Perfect
Of all the things I saw in Paris, I think this image is the one I will most strongly associate with my travels. This is a view of the Eiffel Tower from the Trocadero.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 02:12 PM | Comments (0)
Elysium Fields
This is on the Champs Elysees near the Arc de Triomphe. I was a little disappointed with the Champs Elysees. The high-end stores that line its path give the area a plastic, hyper-commercial feel that I found disquieting. I'm glad I stayed in the Latin Quarter.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 02:08 PM | Comments (0)
Postmodern Pyramid
This is the famous pyramid that serves as the entrance to the Louvre. As with the Musee d'Orsay, a person with a disability and one companion get free admission. Once a palace for Louis XIV, many of the galleries are as ornate as the art displayed within them.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 02:03 PM | Comments (0)
Clockwork
One of the enormous clocks in the Musee d'Orsay that hearken back to the building's days as a train station. The d'Orsay was easily one of my favorite places in Paris. It has great accessibility and a tremendously helpful staff. People with disabilities and one companion also receive free admission.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 01:56 PM | Comments (0)
Pagan Rituals
Every night, a group of young people play with fire on the plaza in front of Notre Dame. I developed a bit of a crush on one dreadlocked young woman who was especially talented. She could etch hieroglyphs of flame around her body for minutes on end.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 01:38 PM | Comments (0)
Enigmatic Smile
I had to fight my way through throngs of Japanese tourists brandishing cameras like ritualistic weapons, but it was worth it to get this view of the Mona Lisa at the Louvre.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 01:24 PM | Comments (1)
Below, Paris
The Montmartre district sits on a hill, offering some spectacular views of the rest of Paris.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 01:19 PM | Comments (0)
September 16, 2005
Top Of The World
Looking down from the Eiffel Tower at Les Invalides.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 11:02 PM | Comments (0)
Model
A street artist in Montmartre convinced me to give her twenty euros to do a sketch of me. The final result was someone much more handsome than myself.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 11:00 PM | Comments (1)
Eiffel Tower
No explanation needed, I'm sure. I went up to the second floor, but I was a little disappointed that I couldn't see over some of the railings.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:57 PM | Comments (0)
Sacre Coeur
I wasn't able to get inside, as I did with Notre Dame, but the view from outside was sufficiently impressive.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:54 PM | Comments (0)
Life Imitating Art
This, of course, is Whistler's Mother at the Musee d'Orsay. My nurse thought my pose was rather amusing.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:51 PM | Comments (0)
Our Lady
The Notre Dame cathedral was a ten-minute walk from my hotel.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:46 PM | Comments (0)
A Sort Of Homecoming
My wheelchair liked Europe so much that it decided to stay an extra day. When my flight from Amsterdam landed in Minneapolis yesterday, we went down to baggage claim to retrieve my wheelchair. But we soon discovered that the wheelchair wasn't there. What followed were several sheepish apologies from Northwest officials; apparently my chair never got put on the plane in Amsterdam after the flight from Berlin. So I had to plop myself in a regular wheelchair with the ventilator trailing behind me in another chair, making for what must have been an unusual-looking parade through the airport. The poor airline workers had to pool their cash to get me a cab ride home; none of the taxi companies would accept vouchers from the now-bankrupt airline. I had to spend most of today in bed until my chair showed up at around 8:00 tonight. I can only assume that the slight dents in the frame are the result of its lewd behavior in the red light district. When left unsupervised, my chair can be rather impulsive.
My body is still on European time, but it's time to post some pictures, if for no other reason than to reassure myself that I didn't dream the last ten days...
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:17 PM | Comments (0)
September 14, 2005
Guten Tag!
Another city, another internet cafe.
This is my last day in Berlin and I am leaving shortly to have dinner with my brother. Berlin feels much different from Paris, but accessibility is noticably better here. I have seen many people using wheelchairs and my impression is that Berlin has a much more active disability community.
Pictures will be posted upon my return. I have filled up nearly two memory cards, so consider yourself forewarned.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 11:59 AM | Comments (1)
September 10, 2005
Last Tango in Paris
Riding over cobblestones in a wheelchair is a curious sensation. Not entirely comfortable, but not altogether unpleasant either. And there are lots , and I do mean lots, of cobblestones in Paris. Every day is like an amusement park ride.
If you stay in Paris long enough, you start to develop a certain contempt for things American. The food here is better, the people here are thinner, the parks are nicer, and the buildings are more interesting. Of course, in the States, I don't have to usually worry about jumping a six inch curb to cross the street. Perhaps travel is meant to remind you of the things you take for granted at home.
My high school French teacher would be proud of me. Most of the time, I can achieve a basic level of communication with Parisiens. I probably speak like a seventh grade drop out, but I'm also remembering words that had fallen into the synaptic cracks of my brain. I suppose that as long as people aren't laughing when I open my mouth, I'm doing okay.
I'll write more about my specific activities once I can post pictures. I'm still using a public computer and I don't want to dump my photos onto its hard drive. Tomorrow, I leave on a train for Berlin. Hopefully, another overseas dispatch will be forthcoming in a couple of days. A bientot.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 11:52 AM | Comments (1)
September 06, 2005
Salut!
I'm writing this at a internet cafe somewhere in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. My hotel wants me to sell my first born child to pay for internet access in my room. I was hoping to upload a few pictures but that will have to wait for now. There is a nice 6 inch drop that I have to go over every time I enter or leave the hotel. It is a good thing I'm already disabled, because I'm pretty sure I broke something. (nuts) Paris itself is a beautiful city with some very beautiful people living here. Tomorrow, I plan on visiting Sacre Coeur and the surrounding area. Hopefully, I will be able to post again this week before I leave for Berlin. For now, I'm going to sign off because this weird ass french keyboard is driving me nuts. Be assured I'm doing well and I have not been arrested for anything...yet. A toute a l'heure.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 01:09 PM | Comments (5)
September 03, 2005
Huddled Masses
Conservatives are fond of criticizing progressives who bring up issues of class. Conservatives like to say that class no longer matters in this country; that with enough grit and hard work and sunny optimism, anyone can pull themselves up by their bootstraps. But a quick glance at the video coming out of New Orleans should be enough to demonstrate that class still matters in America. The people who dwell at the margins of society are the same ones who were the most likely to find themselves trapped in the squalid conditions of the Superdome or the convention center.
It is to these people that government owes a special duty in times of emergency. Government is the only entity that has the capacity and the wherewithal to help the marginalized and the impoverished when disaster strikes. The private sector certainly won't do it. The churches and non-profit organizations can play a supporting role, but they can't mobilize troops or evacuate tens of thousands of people. Somewhere along the way, we forgot that government can be a force for good in peoples' lives. The Grover Norquists of this country have managed to convince our leaders that government is the enemy. The resulting waves of tax cuts, combined with the billions of dollars in resources diverted to Iraq, has gutted our domestic infrastructure. One storm is all it took to send a major American metropolis into the chaos we associate with exotic places on the other side of the world.
Ideology has consequences. Ideology collides with the real world in ways that we cannot always predict. Ideology can wreck lives.
I leave for Europe tomorrow. I may blog again before I leave. Otherwise, I'll be coming at you from the other side of the pond in a couple days.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 01:25 PM | Comments (1)
September 02, 2005
Left Behind
Of the many studies on Katrina's aftermath that are sure to come, I wonder if any of them will look at how people with disabilities fared. "Not very well" would be my initial impression. It seems that if you were both poor and disabled, you were given the option of either fending for yourself at home or fending for yourself at the Superdome. Neither choice is very palatable. It's disheartening to observe that the people who most urgently needed to be evacuated were the same people who were essentially abandoned. The city of New Orleans or state of Louisiana should have had a standing plan on how to safely move people with disabilities to safety. But this, as with so many other things, seems to have been beyond their capacity for planning.
I finally have my new TiVo set up, which is a good thing. I need my Daily Show fix or else I slip into a deep depression about the state of world affairs.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:15 PM | Comments (1)
September 01, 2005
The Great Minnesota Get-Together
I took my sister to the fair tonight, so this is going to have to be short. I swear, you can put on ten pounds just breathing in the fumes from the frying grease. My sister had a fried candy bar on a stick. My stomach is still churning at the sight of it.
Okay, more tomorrow. Off to bed.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 11:21 PM | Comments (0)