About nine years ago, I noticed a dearth of information on the 1972 Olympic basketball final, so I wrote about it and put it on the Web. A few years later I bought my own website and started putting some more writing up there. Having that kind of written record is fun to look back on, but a decade is a long time, and it's occasionally sobering to look back on something you now feel differently about. After the Beijing Olympics, I can proudly say I've changed my mind on USA Basketball.
My proclamation in 1999 that the US Olympic basketball team should no longer feature professionals was an idea that had an extremely short shelf life, if any. My contention, which I still stand by, was that the NBA players who lit up other countries for their first few Olympiads were not Olympians in the true sense of the world. In 2004, the American team gave the biggest test to the notion that NBA players belong in the Olympics with their bickering and their embarrassing behavior. They were, in many ways, the culmination of the attitude that had caused me to write that "in the coming decades, the Olympics should be less about getting the marketability and results we desire and more about developing the type of people we want to serve as instruments of 'friendship, solidarity and fair play.'"
http://www.sportshistory.us/dream.html
Interestingly, the guy I chose to quote as an exemplar of sportsmanship ended up coaching the 2008 team that proved me wrong. Mike Krzyzewski was one of two architects (along with Jerry Colangelo) of a team that restored USA Basketball's reputation. This year's Olympians defeated the toughest field ever while displaying the kind of camaraderie that had been sorely lacking. They hung out at the Olympic village, they rooted on their teammates, and they got along. Yeah, it doesn't sound like much, but it's something that the previous Dream Teams (or whatever you want to call them) managed to fail to do.
For good or ill, the age of unspoiled amateurs competing in the Olympics is over (and it's debatable whether it ever existed). Jerry Colangelo's key insight when he took on the challenge of rebuilding Team USA was that it would take more than an all-star team. He looked at character, starting at the top, and put together a team that could play the international game while holding true to an American style of play. In 1992, you got the feeling that the Americans were playing basketball about as well as it could be played. In 2004, they were still playing well, but they looked like they were up against a style of play that was superior. In 2008, they looked like they had the best of both worlds.
I have no idea whether the basketball rebirth we witnessed in Beijing is sustainable (like the slam dunk contest, it could be something an elite player does once and then passes on for the rest of his career), but it was fun to witness. Another thing that was fun to witness was all of those traveling calls! Maybe we could have the international refs sit in on an NBA game or two a year---the looks on our guys' faces when they get called for steps are just priceless.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Chicago
http://pictures.thelauves.com/chicago0807.html
After trips to the Big Apple and our nation's capital, the City of the Big Shoulders seemed like a logical choice. The impetus for this trip came from the fact that Wicked, which my sisters have been anticipating since hearing a sample on our wedding CD, is playing there. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the city also hosts Wrigley Field, Millennium Park, and a number of other really cool attractions. We arrived late on the night of Wednesday, July 9th, and checked into Hotel Monaco, a great hotel right by the river.
On Thursday morning we got on the train and headed for Wrigley Field. I was very excited for Brandi to see a game in a really big baseball town, even if that town doesn't happen to be St. Louis. Wrigley was everything I could have hoped for---we took pictures at the Harry Caray statue and the big red Wrigley Field sign, and during batting practice we got to take a really good look at the stadium. The ivy looks especially nice in person.
The Cubs fell to an all-time record of 0-4 in games I have attended, falling to the Reds by a count of 12-7. It was so much fun seeing a lot of offense at Wrigley---the Reds had seven homers, including one by Ken Griffey, Jr. (his swing, like the ivy, looks even better in person) and a Sheffield Avenue shot by Adam Dunn. The seats were a little further under the overhang than I had expected, but it ended up perfect as a light rain fell throughout the final five innings.
After the game we ate at Gino's East, Chicago's original deep dish pizza place, where we feasted on a giant sausage pizza and a really good spinach and mushroom pizza.
On Friday morning Brandi and I went out for a run through Chicago's beautiful Millennium Park, and later the whole family went on an architectural boat tour on the Chicago River. I had never realized all the differing architectural styles Chicago is home to, nor did I realize that it is such a leader in architecture. From the Tribune building to the new Trump tower to the Marina City Buildings (which I recognized from Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot album), we saw numerous amazing buildings and were treated to some great weather.
Friday night was our Wicked excursion. For the uninformed, Wicked is a retelling of the Wizard of Oz, presenting the origin stories of both the Wicked Witch of the West and the Good Witch of the, uh, Far West. The songs are very catchy and well performed, and the story is interesting in the way it makes you rethink about the Wizard of Oz. I, for one, thought they went a little too far in making every plot element dovetail with the events of the original, but I was emphatically outvoted.
Saturday brought with it a trip to the Museum of Science and Industry. The museum contains all sorts of interesting exhibits like glass blowing, baby chicks, and old-timey vehicles, but its most impressive feature is an honest-to-goodness U-Boat from World War II. The exhibit followed the rise of the German naval fleet, the effort to disable and capture U-Boats, and the return of this particular U-Boat back to the States.
For dinner we ate at McCormick & Schmick's after deciding not to endure a 90-minute wait at Harry Caray's. The food was great, and the waiter was extremely entertaining.
On Sunday, Brandi and I ran out to the Navy Pier, another fantastic destination that figures prominently in the city's bid for the 2016 Olympics. We all attended Mass at St. Peter's in the Loop, were treated to a refreshing but challenging sermon, and had lunch at an Italian restaurant that claims to be Chicago's oldest. I thought that the atmosphere was good but the food was pretty poor---the only underwhelming meal of the trip.
The Chicago trip was like a breath of fresh air. We weren't overscheduled, so we got to spend much of our time just enjoying a beautiful city. Next up is Italy!!!
After trips to the Big Apple and our nation's capital, the City of the Big Shoulders seemed like a logical choice. The impetus for this trip came from the fact that Wicked, which my sisters have been anticipating since hearing a sample on our wedding CD, is playing there. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the city also hosts Wrigley Field, Millennium Park, and a number of other really cool attractions. We arrived late on the night of Wednesday, July 9th, and checked into Hotel Monaco, a great hotel right by the river.
On Thursday morning we got on the train and headed for Wrigley Field. I was very excited for Brandi to see a game in a really big baseball town, even if that town doesn't happen to be St. Louis. Wrigley was everything I could have hoped for---we took pictures at the Harry Caray statue and the big red Wrigley Field sign, and during batting practice we got to take a really good look at the stadium. The ivy looks especially nice in person.
The Cubs fell to an all-time record of 0-4 in games I have attended, falling to the Reds by a count of 12-7. It was so much fun seeing a lot of offense at Wrigley---the Reds had seven homers, including one by Ken Griffey, Jr. (his swing, like the ivy, looks even better in person) and a Sheffield Avenue shot by Adam Dunn. The seats were a little further under the overhang than I had expected, but it ended up perfect as a light rain fell throughout the final five innings.
After the game we ate at Gino's East, Chicago's original deep dish pizza place, where we feasted on a giant sausage pizza and a really good spinach and mushroom pizza.
On Friday morning Brandi and I went out for a run through Chicago's beautiful Millennium Park, and later the whole family went on an architectural boat tour on the Chicago River. I had never realized all the differing architectural styles Chicago is home to, nor did I realize that it is such a leader in architecture. From the Tribune building to the new Trump tower to the Marina City Buildings (which I recognized from Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot album), we saw numerous amazing buildings and were treated to some great weather.
Friday night was our Wicked excursion. For the uninformed, Wicked is a retelling of the Wizard of Oz, presenting the origin stories of both the Wicked Witch of the West and the Good Witch of the, uh, Far West. The songs are very catchy and well performed, and the story is interesting in the way it makes you rethink about the Wizard of Oz. I, for one, thought they went a little too far in making every plot element dovetail with the events of the original, but I was emphatically outvoted.
Saturday brought with it a trip to the Museum of Science and Industry. The museum contains all sorts of interesting exhibits like glass blowing, baby chicks, and old-timey vehicles, but its most impressive feature is an honest-to-goodness U-Boat from World War II. The exhibit followed the rise of the German naval fleet, the effort to disable and capture U-Boats, and the return of this particular U-Boat back to the States.
For dinner we ate at McCormick & Schmick's after deciding not to endure a 90-minute wait at Harry Caray's. The food was great, and the waiter was extremely entertaining.
On Sunday, Brandi and I ran out to the Navy Pier, another fantastic destination that figures prominently in the city's bid for the 2016 Olympics. We all attended Mass at St. Peter's in the Loop, were treated to a refreshing but challenging sermon, and had lunch at an Italian restaurant that claims to be Chicago's oldest. I thought that the atmosphere was good but the food was pretty poor---the only underwhelming meal of the trip.
The Chicago trip was like a breath of fresh air. We weren't overscheduled, so we got to spend much of our time just enjoying a beautiful city. Next up is Italy!!!
Monday, April 21, 2008
Backe v. Pujols
I had started to address this minor conflict a couple weeks ago (when it actually happened), but I got busy and left it alone for a while. Then the other day I was reading in Predictably Irrational about how people's expectations affect their perceptions, and it gave the example of sports fans who come to opposing conclusions about the same play. I'll hopefully post a review of the book at a later date, but until then, here's the entry I originally intended to create:
Yesterday's spat between Brandon Backe and Albert Pujols is barely worth paying an ounce of attention to, but I'm writing about it anyway. Sort of. What makes the argument interesting is not the argument itself, but the disparity in the reaction by two different fan communities.
We are more connected than ever, but it could be argued that we are also becoming more sheltered than ever. I was at dinner with one of my business school professors last week, and he told a story of a research project he was working on. It involved monitoring financial message boards to pinpoint the contributors who could most accurately predict the behavior of the market. Unfortunately, he found that there's not some sort of marketplace that promotes the best ideas; instead, there's a sorting into two diametrically opposed camps where people reinforce each other's (usually incorrect) prognostications.
The same can be said for the message boards at Bill O'Reilly and the Daily Kos, which have produced some pretty hateful talk, and unfortunately it appears to be true of the comment sections at baseball blogs. Viva El Birdos and Crawfish Boxes are two members of the SportsBlog Nation community of blogs, and they're the two baseball blogs that I read regularly. Here's some of the reaction from both comment sections on yesterday's altercation:
St. Louis:
Houston:
Something in each blog's respective comments section reeks of lack of exposure to differing opinions. So in the interest of fairness, here are some comments to each team's fans:
To the Cards fans: First off, there should be no bitterness regarding Brandon Backe's crowing during game 5 of the NLCS. Remember how that ended up playing out? Pujols goes off the back window, the Astros get swept out of the World Series, and the Cardinals take it in five the next year. All things considered, I think the Cardinals came out pretty well. Let them "squeal" three years ago. No biggie. Secondly, maybe we can all admit that, were Tony LaRussa managing in the other dugout, there would be more than a couple aspects of his extreme fidelity to the unwritten rules of baseball that would anger us from time to time.
To the 'Stros fans: Take a lesson from Carlos Beltran. The guy wasn't the savior of the baseball world for the half a season he played for the Astros and then a complete jerk after he left. Similarly, Albert Pujols is not a bad guy just because he doesn't play for your team. We all root for laundry to a certain extent, but don't take it to the extreme. It's bad for the soul. If Pujols were an Astro, he'd be the greatest player ever, and if Backe were a Cardinal, he'd be the punk from your high school who sat in the back of the class and drew the logos of heavy metal bands on his binder. Also, calling the clubhouse to apologize is not the bare minimum; it's a pretty decent thing to do.
Yesterday's spat between Brandon Backe and Albert Pujols is barely worth paying an ounce of attention to, but I'm writing about it anyway. Sort of. What makes the argument interesting is not the argument itself, but the disparity in the reaction by two different fan communities.
We are more connected than ever, but it could be argued that we are also becoming more sheltered than ever. I was at dinner with one of my business school professors last week, and he told a story of a research project he was working on. It involved monitoring financial message boards to pinpoint the contributors who could most accurately predict the behavior of the market. Unfortunately, he found that there's not some sort of marketplace that promotes the best ideas; instead, there's a sorting into two diametrically opposed camps where people reinforce each other's (usually incorrect) prognostications.
The same can be said for the message boards at Bill O'Reilly and the Daily Kos, which have produced some pretty hateful talk, and unfortunately it appears to be true of the comment sections at baseball blogs. Viva El Birdos and Crawfish Boxes are two members of the SportsBlog Nation community of blogs, and they're the two baseball blogs that I read regularly. Here's some of the reaction from both comment sections on yesterday's altercation:
St. Louis:
- "Backe needs to do something in the majors before he starts talking"
- "Smart move dumbass...your team thanks you"
- "If it wasnt for this does anyone know who brandon backe is anyway?"
- "Fox had Backe mic'd for that game [game 5 of the 2005 NLCS] and all i remember before Pujols' bomb was his shrill squealing throughout the game."
Houston:
- "Calling up later to apologize is the bare minimum, but it seems like LaRussa's Cardinals are always involved in dirty stuff like this"
- "First, it was a malicious slide in an uncontested play at the plate. Secondly, Pujols is a BITCH and needs an attitude adjustment to wipe that arrogant smirk of [sic] his stinky fat face."
- "He should get dotted every time up. He's been due for years, dating back to ruining Brad Lidge for us.
Something in each blog's respective comments section reeks of lack of exposure to differing opinions. So in the interest of fairness, here are some comments to each team's fans:
To the Cards fans: First off, there should be no bitterness regarding Brandon Backe's crowing during game 5 of the NLCS. Remember how that ended up playing out? Pujols goes off the back window, the Astros get swept out of the World Series, and the Cardinals take it in five the next year. All things considered, I think the Cardinals came out pretty well. Let them "squeal" three years ago. No biggie. Secondly, maybe we can all admit that, were Tony LaRussa managing in the other dugout, there would be more than a couple aspects of his extreme fidelity to the unwritten rules of baseball that would anger us from time to time.
To the 'Stros fans: Take a lesson from Carlos Beltran. The guy wasn't the savior of the baseball world for the half a season he played for the Astros and then a complete jerk after he left. Similarly, Albert Pujols is not a bad guy just because he doesn't play for your team. We all root for laundry to a certain extent, but don't take it to the extreme. It's bad for the soul. If Pujols were an Astro, he'd be the greatest player ever, and if Backe were a Cardinal, he'd be the punk from your high school who sat in the back of the class and drew the logos of heavy metal bands on his binder. Also, calling the clubhouse to apologize is not the bare minimum; it's a pretty decent thing to do.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Washington, D.C.
http://pictures.thelauves.com/washingtondc0803
On March 28-31, we spent a weekend in Washington, D.C. It was Daniel's eighth trip to our nation's capital and Brandi's first.
Brandi arrived by way of a trip for work. She had events in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and Adelphi (near College Park), Maryland. Upon discovering that the mascot for the University of Maryland is a terrapin (turtle), she thought that that was "so cute!" She finished with her work on Thursday and waited patiently for me to arrive---it was going to be a late night for me.
I was scheduled on a 7:55 flight from Austin to Dallas, then a flight from Dallas to Baltimore that would get me in at 1:10 a.m. Add on the taxi ride to College Park, and I was expecting to get in to the hotel at about 2:30 a.m. So I tried to stand by on one of the two earlier flights to DFW, and I got on the second of those two. This allowed me to stand by for a flight that would get me in to Reagan National at 12:20 a.m. I was the last passenger let on---not only did I not have to pay a change fee, but I also got to sit in first class for the first time ever! The taxi ride to College Park was long but not nearly as long as it would have been from Baltimore, and I was at the hotel by 1:00.
Our first event scheduled for Friday morning was a tour of the U.S. Capitol, given by the staff of our Representative John Carter. We got on the Metro in College Park, dropped off our luggage at our hotel in Foggy Bottom, then hopped on another train to the Capitol. Staff-led tours of the Capitol begin in the tunnels underneath the building, and when we got down to the basement we found a two-hour wait just to get in. This was a theme for the entire weekend---being in D.C. on the opening weekend of the Cherry Blossom Festival meant being exposed to crowds everywhere we turned. We were advised that it would be better to tour the Capitol later, so we decided to take a trip down to the National Air & Space Museum.
The Air & Space Museum has an amazing amount of history from the last hundred plus years of flight. Among the exhibits featured there are the original Spirit of St. Louis, several vehicles from the early days of the space program, and the original Wright Brothers Flyer. The museum is also the temporary host for the Smithsonian's National Treasures exhibit, which includes the hat that Lincoln wore to Ford's theater, the original Kermit the Frog, R2D2 and C3PO, and the original ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz (definitely Brandi's favorite).
We arrived back at the Capitol to find much shorter lines, and before no time our tour guide (currently a student at Texas A&M) was telling us about the history of the Capitol Building. We got to see the place that was originally intended to be George Washington's burial site, we saw the original home of the Supreme Court, we walked through the Rotunda and Statuary Hall, and we got to sit in the House chamber.
On the recommendation of our guide, we had lunch at Tortilla Coast, a Texan-owned TexMex restaurant that sits caddy corner to the House office buildings. We had some good food and some really good margaritas. Brandi was going to get a margarita, but when I noticed that a pitcher of margaritas cost less than two margaritas, I thought that getting a pitcher would be a good idea. Considering that I had slept three hours the night before, was getting over a cough (for which I was taking medication) and had no food in my stomach when we started eating at 3:00, it ended up being a great idea!
The next stop on our D.C. trip was a 90-minute tour of the men's bathroom at Bed Bath & Beyond. Since I wasn't feeling too well, we decided to come back to the hotel and take it easy on Friday night. We ordered 27 Dresses from our room, and I got to rest up and catch up on the NCAA Tournament.
On Saturday morning I got us breakfast at a Safeway located within the Watergate Hotel, and then we were off to get tickets to the Holocaust museum. With the crowds being insane all over town, we had to get there early before the tickets ran out. (Each ticket lists a time after which you are allowed to come back to see the exhibit.) After getting the tickets, we went to the National Gallery of Art. We saw numerous amazing pieces of art from the likes of Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, and da Vinci, and Brandi explained to me the difference between impressionism and all the other isms.
Our Saturday lunch was at a tapas bar. It was good, but among the items we ate was a particularly salty salad. It's also the answer to a trivia question---the first thing Brandi has sent back since we've known each other.
On our way to the Holocaust museum we wandered by the Washington Monument, which was hosting a kite festival as part of the Cherry Blossom Festival. It was amazing to see hundreds of kites being flown by the numerous people standing on the lawn of the monument. We got to the National Holocaust Museum at a little before 2:00, and it was extremely crowded. But it was amazing. The entire museum (which occupies a four-story building) is so well designed, and the visual elements used, from the construction of the museum itself to the Holocaust artifacts on display, were so evocative. The museum does such a good job of bringing together cultural history, religious history, and military history (the rise of Hitler, the history of antisemitism, the arc of World War II), and it packs an incredible emotional punch as well. It was an experience that I doubt either of us will ever forget.
We then walked by the cherry blossoms on our way to the Jefferson Memorial. Cherry blossoms can be found all around the city, but they are primarily located along the tidal basin. The Jefferson Memorial is one of my favorite places anywhere, and it was great to be with Brandi as she saw it for the first time. It's known for being a little more secluded, but it was super crowded on this day---it's pretty much the epicenter of the Cherry Blossom Festival.
Our Saturday dinner was at Filomena, a nice Italian restaurant in Georgetown. We really enjoyed the atmosphere, but our food choices unfortunately left something to be desired. But it was fun to be in Georgetown on a Saturday night.
On Sunday morning we attended mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, which is within a block or two of Legal Sea Food and the National Portrait Gallery, our next two stops. Legal Sea Food was very good; it's a place Brandi has been wanting to introduce me to, and I really enjoyed it. They offered some interesting varieties of calamari as well as great fish and crab cakes.
The National Portrait Gallery is a place that I had never been, but we both thoroughly enjoyed it. It has portraits of pretty much every great American historical figure, including a room featuring all of the presidential portraits. The portrait gallery was also hosting Stephen Colbert's portrait, which was located above the water fountains and between the bathrooms. Remarkably, it had the longest line of people waiting to have their picture taken with it, besting George Washington's portrait by a factor of two or three.
Dinner on Sunday was at Old Ebbitt Grill, which is one of my favorite places to eat in D.C. The food was really good, and the atmosphere was great. The restaurant, which is a little over a block from the White House, has been a favorite of many presidents and is reputed to contain several of Teddy Roosevelt's personal belongings.
The walk by the monuments was something that I was looking forward to since we first arrived. We started by walking past the White House and then visited the World War II Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The thing that always gets me about the Lincoln Memorial is his second inaugural address. It sits to Lincoln's left (the Gettysburg Address is on his right), and it's just amazing to me the timeless wisdom he was able to inject into his speeches in the midst of such turbulence. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was, as always, sobering.
(Brandi is making me write that the temperature was under 70 degrees when we were at the Lincoln Memorial---hence the bundliness.)
Brandi's first time in Washington, D.C. was a great weekend for both of us. With our trip to New York in October, Brandi got to show me her favorite city, and now she's gotten to see mine.
On March 28-31, we spent a weekend in Washington, D.C. It was Daniel's eighth trip to our nation's capital and Brandi's first.
Brandi arrived by way of a trip for work. She had events in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and Adelphi (near College Park), Maryland. Upon discovering that the mascot for the University of Maryland is a terrapin (turtle), she thought that that was "so cute!" She finished with her work on Thursday and waited patiently for me to arrive---it was going to be a late night for me.
I was scheduled on a 7:55 flight from Austin to Dallas, then a flight from Dallas to Baltimore that would get me in at 1:10 a.m. Add on the taxi ride to College Park, and I was expecting to get in to the hotel at about 2:30 a.m. So I tried to stand by on one of the two earlier flights to DFW, and I got on the second of those two. This allowed me to stand by for a flight that would get me in to Reagan National at 12:20 a.m. I was the last passenger let on---not only did I not have to pay a change fee, but I also got to sit in first class for the first time ever! The taxi ride to College Park was long but not nearly as long as it would have been from Baltimore, and I was at the hotel by 1:00.
Our first event scheduled for Friday morning was a tour of the U.S. Capitol, given by the staff of our Representative John Carter. We got on the Metro in College Park, dropped off our luggage at our hotel in Foggy Bottom, then hopped on another train to the Capitol. Staff-led tours of the Capitol begin in the tunnels underneath the building, and when we got down to the basement we found a two-hour wait just to get in. This was a theme for the entire weekend---being in D.C. on the opening weekend of the Cherry Blossom Festival meant being exposed to crowds everywhere we turned. We were advised that it would be better to tour the Capitol later, so we decided to take a trip down to the National Air & Space Museum.
The Air & Space Museum has an amazing amount of history from the last hundred plus years of flight. Among the exhibits featured there are the original Spirit of St. Louis, several vehicles from the early days of the space program, and the original Wright Brothers Flyer. The museum is also the temporary host for the Smithsonian's National Treasures exhibit, which includes the hat that Lincoln wore to Ford's theater, the original Kermit the Frog, R2D2 and C3PO, and the original ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz (definitely Brandi's favorite).
We arrived back at the Capitol to find much shorter lines, and before no time our tour guide (currently a student at Texas A&M) was telling us about the history of the Capitol Building. We got to see the place that was originally intended to be George Washington's burial site, we saw the original home of the Supreme Court, we walked through the Rotunda and Statuary Hall, and we got to sit in the House chamber.
On the recommendation of our guide, we had lunch at Tortilla Coast, a Texan-owned TexMex restaurant that sits caddy corner to the House office buildings. We had some good food and some really good margaritas. Brandi was going to get a margarita, but when I noticed that a pitcher of margaritas cost less than two margaritas, I thought that getting a pitcher would be a good idea. Considering that I had slept three hours the night before, was getting over a cough (for which I was taking medication) and had no food in my stomach when we started eating at 3:00, it ended up being a great idea!
The next stop on our D.C. trip was a 90-minute tour of the men's bathroom at Bed Bath & Beyond. Since I wasn't feeling too well, we decided to come back to the hotel and take it easy on Friday night. We ordered 27 Dresses from our room, and I got to rest up and catch up on the NCAA Tournament.
On Saturday morning I got us breakfast at a Safeway located within the Watergate Hotel, and then we were off to get tickets to the Holocaust museum. With the crowds being insane all over town, we had to get there early before the tickets ran out. (Each ticket lists a time after which you are allowed to come back to see the exhibit.) After getting the tickets, we went to the National Gallery of Art. We saw numerous amazing pieces of art from the likes of Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, and da Vinci, and Brandi explained to me the difference between impressionism and all the other isms.
Our Saturday lunch was at a tapas bar. It was good, but among the items we ate was a particularly salty salad. It's also the answer to a trivia question---the first thing Brandi has sent back since we've known each other.
On our way to the Holocaust museum we wandered by the Washington Monument, which was hosting a kite festival as part of the Cherry Blossom Festival. It was amazing to see hundreds of kites being flown by the numerous people standing on the lawn of the monument. We got to the National Holocaust Museum at a little before 2:00, and it was extremely crowded. But it was amazing. The entire museum (which occupies a four-story building) is so well designed, and the visual elements used, from the construction of the museum itself to the Holocaust artifacts on display, were so evocative. The museum does such a good job of bringing together cultural history, religious history, and military history (the rise of Hitler, the history of antisemitism, the arc of World War II), and it packs an incredible emotional punch as well. It was an experience that I doubt either of us will ever forget.
We then walked by the cherry blossoms on our way to the Jefferson Memorial. Cherry blossoms can be found all around the city, but they are primarily located along the tidal basin. The Jefferson Memorial is one of my favorite places anywhere, and it was great to be with Brandi as she saw it for the first time. It's known for being a little more secluded, but it was super crowded on this day---it's pretty much the epicenter of the Cherry Blossom Festival.
Our Saturday dinner was at Filomena, a nice Italian restaurant in Georgetown. We really enjoyed the atmosphere, but our food choices unfortunately left something to be desired. But it was fun to be in Georgetown on a Saturday night.
On Sunday morning we attended mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, which is within a block or two of Legal Sea Food and the National Portrait Gallery, our next two stops. Legal Sea Food was very good; it's a place Brandi has been wanting to introduce me to, and I really enjoyed it. They offered some interesting varieties of calamari as well as great fish and crab cakes.
The National Portrait Gallery is a place that I had never been, but we both thoroughly enjoyed it. It has portraits of pretty much every great American historical figure, including a room featuring all of the presidential portraits. The portrait gallery was also hosting Stephen Colbert's portrait, which was located above the water fountains and between the bathrooms. Remarkably, it had the longest line of people waiting to have their picture taken with it, besting George Washington's portrait by a factor of two or three.
Dinner on Sunday was at Old Ebbitt Grill, which is one of my favorite places to eat in D.C. The food was really good, and the atmosphere was great. The restaurant, which is a little over a block from the White House, has been a favorite of many presidents and is reputed to contain several of Teddy Roosevelt's personal belongings.
The walk by the monuments was something that I was looking forward to since we first arrived. We started by walking past the White House and then visited the World War II Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The thing that always gets me about the Lincoln Memorial is his second inaugural address. It sits to Lincoln's left (the Gettysburg Address is on his right), and it's just amazing to me the timeless wisdom he was able to inject into his speeches in the midst of such turbulence. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was, as always, sobering.
(Brandi is making me write that the temperature was under 70 degrees when we were at the Lincoln Memorial---hence the bundliness.)
Brandi's first time in Washington, D.C. was a great weekend for both of us. With our trip to New York in October, Brandi got to show me her favorite city, and now she's gotten to see mine.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Did you write the book of Lauve…and other great tales from H-Town
http://pictures.thelauves.com/houston0803.html
Well I must be on a roll if I'm posting two blogs in one week! This past weekend we went to Houston to spend the weekend with my old friends from college. There are 3 of the old group in Houston: Steven, Julie, Jill and her fiance Sergei, 6 of us left in Austin: Keith, Ginny, Laura, Chris, me and Daniel, Angela and Aidan live in Dallas and Lisa and Ryan, who weren't able to come, live in San Antonio. Matt & Heather were also unable to join us since they moved to Virginia last summer--we missed you guys! We all decided to have our reunion in Houston this time around. Our Houston friends managed to put us all up in their homes---Jill and Sergei graciously offered up their spare room to us.
We left for Houston on Friday night and made it in town to enjoy Jill and Sergei's favorite Thai restaurant, Thai Gourmet, which really was some of the best Thai food I've ever eaten. It even disproved Daniel's theory that the extremely spicy at Thai restaurants is some sort of conspiracy theory...I'll let him explain that one....we met up with the rest of the crew at Steven's and hashed out American Idol, the Beatles edition part I until we decided to call it a night and meet up the next day for some grilling at Jill and Sergei's.
The next morning, Daniel and I braved the hills with Sergei, who is a personal trainer by profession, and his sporty spice hottie, one of my best friends, Jill. It was a little tough but fun in the end and made me feel I deserved the naughty breakfast tacos we ate soon after. Laura, Chris and Steven did all of the grocery shopping (thanks guys!) while we all got ready to have some fun in the sun. It was a GORGEOUS day that took place at really swank pool setting. The built-in gas grill and pavillion were perfect---take a look at the pictures that prove it.
Even my cousin Teresa and her daughter Yenny came out to play with us at the pool making it a near perfect day for me. I can't think of anything better than being surrounded by so many loved ones. Blue Moon beer with orange slices was the choice drink of the day and my Simple, Summer Strawberry Salad was a hit! Ginny gave me the great idea to include the recipe in my blog:
Simple Summer Strawberry Salad
Salad:
1 lb San Juan Spring Mix
1 pint fresh strawberries (cut)
1 cup (4 oz) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or toasted pecans
1 bunch green onions chopped
Dressing:
1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
Combine ingredients for dressing in large jar. Shake
well and pour over salad before serving.
After lots of catching up and some hot tub relaxation, we all decided to get ready and go out for a few drinks! We ended up at Sherlock's Bakers Street Pub. It was not too loud and even though many of us were tired from all the sun during the day, I think the good company perked us all up again and we got our second wind. Steven came up with the great idea to go to Michael's Outpost, a dive piano bar that our spirited crew soon took over, mostly due to our cruise director with amazing vocals!! Steven Knott wooed the whole bar (all the guys in the back really were wooed) and made singing by a piano in front of strangers so much fun.
It has to be said that one of my favorite parts of the night was when my husband, Daniel Lauve, decided he was ready to sing and brought down the house and brought up the lights (it was the last song of the night) with American Pie. He sang it so well and I know this sounds weird but was just another reason that I'm sooo incredibly proud to be his wife!! I love that he still has tricks up his sleeve...
We ended a great weekend with a trip to Cafe Malay for a tour of Malaysian food with Aidan and Angela. Aidan taught us a few things and it was yet another great adventure with our friends. Thanks to all of you for recharging my friendship batteries---I love each of you so much and I can't wait to start planning our get together in June!
Well I must be on a roll if I'm posting two blogs in one week! This past weekend we went to Houston to spend the weekend with my old friends from college. There are 3 of the old group in Houston: Steven, Julie, Jill and her fiance Sergei, 6 of us left in Austin: Keith, Ginny, Laura, Chris, me and Daniel, Angela and Aidan live in Dallas and Lisa and Ryan, who weren't able to come, live in San Antonio. Matt & Heather were also unable to join us since they moved to Virginia last summer--we missed you guys! We all decided to have our reunion in Houston this time around. Our Houston friends managed to put us all up in their homes---Jill and Sergei graciously offered up their spare room to us.
We left for Houston on Friday night and made it in town to enjoy Jill and Sergei's favorite Thai restaurant, Thai Gourmet, which really was some of the best Thai food I've ever eaten. It even disproved Daniel's theory that the extremely spicy at Thai restaurants is some sort of conspiracy theory...I'll let him explain that one....we met up with the rest of the crew at Steven's and hashed out American Idol, the Beatles edition part I until we decided to call it a night and meet up the next day for some grilling at Jill and Sergei's.
The next morning, Daniel and I braved the hills with Sergei, who is a personal trainer by profession, and his sporty spice hottie, one of my best friends, Jill. It was a little tough but fun in the end and made me feel I deserved the naughty breakfast tacos we ate soon after. Laura, Chris and Steven did all of the grocery shopping (thanks guys!) while we all got ready to have some fun in the sun. It was a GORGEOUS day that took place at really swank pool setting. The built-in gas grill and pavillion were perfect---take a look at the pictures that prove it.
Even my cousin Teresa and her daughter Yenny came out to play with us at the pool making it a near perfect day for me. I can't think of anything better than being surrounded by so many loved ones. Blue Moon beer with orange slices was the choice drink of the day and my Simple, Summer Strawberry Salad was a hit! Ginny gave me the great idea to include the recipe in my blog:
Simple Summer Strawberry Salad
Salad:
1 lb San Juan Spring Mix
1 pint fresh strawberries (cut)
1 cup (4 oz) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or toasted pecans
1 bunch green onions chopped
Dressing:
1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
Combine ingredients for dressing in large jar. Shake
well and pour over salad before serving.
After lots of catching up and some hot tub relaxation, we all decided to get ready and go out for a few drinks! We ended up at Sherlock's Bakers Street Pub. It was not too loud and even though many of us were tired from all the sun during the day, I think the good company perked us all up again and we got our second wind. Steven came up with the great idea to go to Michael's Outpost, a dive piano bar that our spirited crew soon took over, mostly due to our cruise director with amazing vocals!! Steven Knott wooed the whole bar (all the guys in the back really were wooed) and made singing by a piano in front of strangers so much fun.
It has to be said that one of my favorite parts of the night was when my husband, Daniel Lauve, decided he was ready to sing and brought down the house and brought up the lights (it was the last song of the night) with American Pie. He sang it so well and I know this sounds weird but was just another reason that I'm sooo incredibly proud to be his wife!! I love that he still has tricks up his sleeve...
We ended a great weekend with a trip to Cafe Malay for a tour of Malaysian food with Aidan and Angela. Aidan taught us a few things and it was yet another great adventure with our friends. Thanks to all of you for recharging my friendship batteries---I love each of you so much and I can't wait to start planning our get together in June!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Christmas 2007
http://pictures.thelauves.com/christmas0712.html
Okay, okay, okay...there is no good excuse for this tardy blog so I'll just say it quickly to make it less painful for all of us---this is the long awaited, much requested CHRISTMAS BLOG! Our first Christmas as married folk was really great. We started off by traveling through Beaumont on December 21st to visit the Comeauxs. Amber and I grew up together and have managed to stay close despite the fact that we now live four hours apart. I usually go by there while on Christmas vacation and Daniel was game, so we had our first Christmas and traded presents with Amber, Jed and their two girls, Kaylin and Madison. Jed cooked us a great shrimp gumbo that we ate once we got in even though it was 10:30PM!
The next day Amber's parents showed up for breakfast, and it's always good to see them. They have been busy repairing Amber's old dollhouse to give to the girls for Christmas. I think I enjoyed playing with it just as much as them on this visit (as seen in the pictures) because it brought back so many memories for me!
We soon left for Mom and Dad's. Once we got to the house, it smelled and looked just like a Nunez Christmas. Mom spent most of the time doting on us by cooking our favorite foods and treats, Dad spent time with us at the park jogging and sharing bottles of wine, and my brother was especially anti-Christmas pajama bottoms! He did throw the football around in the yard with us for awhile---I caught it a few times and shocked the heck out of my Dad and brother.
Daniel got a special present from Dad. He bought him a basketball and new net for Brent's old basketball goal---such a thoughtful gift! We made the infamous sugar cookies on Christmas Eve and opened our presents together. On Christmas day, we headed to Vidor to be with our extended family for a big lunch, my Memaw outdid herself again. Most of the family was there so Daniel and I visited for awhile and then headed to Houston to have a Lauve Christmas!
We arrived at the Neely house on Christmas night in time for a delicious dinner and then opened Christmas presents. I learned that the Nunezes open presents the Neely way! The Lauves were sweet and opened each of their presents one at a time just to appease me. The Neelys had actually left for New Braunfels but it was the perfect meeting point for the Lauves. We stayed for four days, during which the Neely's returned so we had yet another Christmas! If you know me at all then you know that it was just fine with me! We rested, talked, read Harry Potter, visited with Daniel's grandparents, watched movies and played many rousing games of Wii boxing! Take a look at the crazy pictures of me and Cristina as we honed our rapid fire tactics and beat Daniel more than once. It was addictive and exhausting!
On the 29th it was time to head with only one last stop to make. We went to my cousin Teresa's house for a Christmas party. Teresa cooked the entire dinner which was delicious and her house felt very cozy and festive. We stayed for awhile and got to visit with Diane and Damon and my Aunt Audrey. Soon after winning a game of Mexican Bingo, we headed to home to Austin.
We enjoyed all of our stops along the way which extended our Christmas to a full week-long celebration. We are truly thankful to have so many people to see. Merry Christmas & Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Here’s another clue for you all…the walrus was Paula
I chose the infamous butcher cover for this post because last week's American Idol featured some butchering of some Lennon/McCartney standards. For the most part, though, the performances were entertaining and impressive in many respects. Next week will also be from the Lennon/McCartney catalog, but giving American Idol contestants another shot at Beatles songs is kind of like giving your puppy another crack at your new shoes. So in the interest of avoiding train wreck moments like the one that claimed David Hernandez, I'm doing my part to help the final 11 with their song selections. So below are each of the eleven contestants, the song they sang last week, the song they should sing this week, and the song they will sing this week.
Syesha Mercado
Sang: Got to Get You Into My Life
Should Sing: And Your Bird Can Sing
Will Sing: Get Back
Chikezie
Sang: She's a Woman
Should Sing: This Boy
Will Sing: Lady Madonna
Ramiele Malubay
Sang: In My Life
Should Sing: Cry Baby Cry
Will Sing: The Long and Winding Road
Jason Castro
Sang: If I Fell
Should Sing: Michelle
Will Sing: Two of Us
Carly Smithson
Sang: Come Together
Should Sing: Oh! Darling
Will Sing: She Came in Through the Bathroom Window
David Cook
Sang: Elanor Rigby
Should Sing: Hey Bulldog
Will Sing: Rain
Brooke White
Sang: Let It Be
Should Sing: I'll Follow the Sun
Will Sing: Fool on the Hill
Amanda Overmyer
Sang: You Can't Do That
Should Sing: Little Child
Will Sing: Birthday
Michael Johns
Sang: Across the Universe
Should Sing: Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
Will Sing: You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
Kristy Lee Cook
Sang: Eight Days a Week
Should Sing: From Me to You
Will Sing: Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da
David Archuleta
Sang: We Can Work It Out
Should Sing: For No One
Will Sing: Yesterday
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