philly

NY For the Weekend

I'm headed up to NY for the weekend. Saturday night is my mom's belated bday dinner in Northern Jersey. I think I'm going to be staying with friends Saturday and Sunday nights to catch up a bit. Most likely no updates until Monday afternoon when I arrive back in Illy. But many photos will be taken, for sure.

W Reads Newspapers?

I clearly recall W saying how he doesn't read newspapers because of the filters. But I just read this AP story via CNN

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Plans requiring passports from people entering the United States don't pass muster with President Bush, who has ordered a review of this border security effort amid fears it would impede legal travel from Canada, Mexico and other U.S. neighbors.

The president said Thursday he was surprised by the proposed rules announced last week by the State and Homeland Security departments.

"When I first read that in the newspaper about the need to have passports, particularly today's crossings that take place, about a million for instance in the state of Texas, I said, 'What's going on here?"' Bush said when asked about the rules at a meeting of the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

Whaa? Is he podcasting them? Maybe Condi is reading them to him.

Taste of Chicago

Back in 2003, I took a trip to Chicago for July 4^th. A few college friends have been going to a different city for July 4^th for the past three years, it's pretty fun and someone moves somewhere new each year so far. During that trip, the Taste of Chicago was going on and we went, we ate and we drank. It's a pretty awesome over a week-long event with more meat products than you can imagine. We were walking around eating gi-normous turkey legs swimming in BBQ sauce like we were in the Flintstones or something.

I was reading up on the Chicago Tribune and saw this article on the upcoming lineup of performers for this summer's Taste and it makes me want to go back. If you're planning a getaway at the end of June / beginning of July, I'd suggest taking a trip out to Chitown. It's a gorgeous summer city. It has a real beach, great food and the Weiner Circle which is its own experience altogether — for some reason, the ladies there loved me there and didn't yell at me at all.

Every city needs this kind of outdoorsy event in the summer showcasing their food finds to the masses.

Austin in Bolivia

You may have heard about what is going on in Bolivia right now on the news, but my buddy Austin is living it. He's been travelling around South America for the past few months and he's currently in Bolivia. Here's the first post on what is going on there in a first hand account as s gringo in the middle of a rather large political movement thingie. I'm not sure what to call it.

Take a click over there and take a read.

Philly is #1!

If you look at it one way, we're #1, but if you look at it another way, we're #31. The Inquirer reports that Philadelphia International Airport finished last in on-time arrivals and departures out of the 31 largest airports in the U.S.

The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics said 58.6 percent of airline flights arrived on time, and 59.7 percent left on time during the month.

Last year, Illy Int. was #30, or, #2.

So, we're getting better! Or... worse.

South Korean Sea Women

I just saw this story on the NY Times about South Korean "Sea Women" and it brought back memories. I'm not the most nationalistic person out there, but I am proud to be an American born Korean. My family came over in the late 1970s to New York and I went back to visit my relatives when I was thirteen in 1993 for the summer. I learned quite a bit about who I am, where I came from and about my family in particular.

I took a trip down to Cheju-Do [Cheju Island] with my cousins from Seoul. It was something like a fifteen hour long trainride. It was quite the journey. I crammed myself in between two seats that were facing away from each other. Picture the "A" shaped negative space. I crammed my bag and myself in there. It wasn't that much of a problem though, I can fall asleep anywhere, in just about any position no matter how loud it may be around me. The only thing was that there's a snack cart that goes through all of the cars and I'd have to move my legs out of the way when it came by.

We stayed in a hostel type place with a heated stone floor, typical of Korean hostels. I saw these women diving for sea animals. It was pretty cool.

Later in the summer, back on the mainland, my family was on the beach and we walked along the beach and saw people selling their catch in buckets. Can't get fresher than that. I remember seeing one slimy looking thing in one of the buckets and I asked my parents what it was. They told me it was as sea urchin or sea cucumber, I forget exactly. I made a squirmy face at them. Not an hour later, we were in a restaurant eating. The server brought over a small plate of cut up slices of shiny black stuff. I asked my parents what it was. They told me to have a piece. I did. I put it in my mouth and it slid down my throat without much effort. It didn't taste like anything, but it was weird. I asked them again. They said, "Remember that thing in the bucket?" Heh. Damn parents and their trixies.

Anyways. The article pointed out that these diving women will be extinct in the next two decades or so which made me sad. Another piece of the "old ways" will die off with the more prosperous tourist industry.

Photo: Seokyong Lee/NYT

Up in CT for the Weekend

Hopefully, I'll be able to get out just enough to take some photos outside of Philly. It's nice to go somewhere newish and take some photos and take a break from my Illy stomping grounds for a bit. But it is oh so cold outside. We'll see.

Let's see if I can get a nice shot of the Romantic Willimantic Frog Bridge. You gotta see it to believe it. On another note, Willimantic, CT is also known as... Heroin Town!

South America Update

My buddy Austin is documenting his travels via his travelog and his latest entry got me all jealous:

I wake up. I drink Mate. I call people on my mobile phone that are mildly interested in hearing from me. I blow out my candle that I left burning through the night. I read a little Che, or a comic book, and Nacion and Clarin online. I do weblog related BS. I apply sunscreen. I don clothing articles clearly denoting my national heritage, and go to 2 hours of Spanish lessons. Then, I explore the city, which is luckily at my very fingertips. Buenos Aires. Summertime, 2k5.

That bastard.

NYC Invades Buenos Aires

So, AK has been in South America for months now. He's travelled to Brasil, seen waterfalls, stepped onto the football pitch and now, his buddies from the old country are in town visiting. You can read about one incident here. And let me tell you, after hanging out with his buddies for the past five years or so, this particular event is not, in comparison, that obscene nor out of the ordinary.

Agustin Uploads Photos

Here's a quick update on my buddy Austin's travels through South America. He's been there for about 3 weeks now. He's taken many photos and has posted them here on Sony's Imagestation. If you don't have an account, it takes a couple of seconds to create one.

It's pretty cool to be able to see his progress through South America in almost real time. He posts to his blog pretty frequently and posts photos when he can. Technology, amazing.

That bastard is headed to the beach today. To the beach. I had to go out and buy glvoes and thermal underwear Monday because it's so fucking cold and he's headed to the beach in trunks and flip flops - that bastard.

Be warm, for the rest of us AK.