Saturday - this morning it's up again at 6:30 and we're going to Gozo. Forecast is for rough seas but the crossing is only 20 minutes so I should be safe from seasickness. The newspaper here revolves around the same topics as the US. People are worried about the economy, the Bank of Valleta is having trouble, and who is going to be the next US president. Everyone asks us about Obama vs. McCain. So far, Malta citizens are leaning for Obama.
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A long day. This was the day of neolithic ruins in the hot sun. We went to several ancient sites. The relaxing boat ride to the Blue Grotto was canceled due to rough sea. Tomorrow we're going to Gozo, so I hope the sea calms down. More ruins tomorrow. Haven't seen a single car or sign of the Grand Prix. I guess it's not a major event because no one has really talked about it at all. Okay, really tired. Signing off now.
Took the blue hop-on-hop-off tour today which covers the north part of Malta. Sights included: Mdina Glass (bought stuff), Mosta (Historic church that survived bombing), Mdina, (complete walled city), and Mgarr (pre-historic temple ruins dating from 2500 BC). 8 hours of sightseeing and it's time for a break before going back out to see the nightlife of the surrounding area. Moblog photos not going through. Bummer.
Mondo and I are here and today it's off for sightseeing around Malta. Short version so far - I upgraded Mondo to her first, first class flight (I sat in coach) and Mondo had the Joel McHale celebrity sighting next to her in first. Arrival in Munich and transfer on to Malta was one long trip. Malta so far is great. I can't wait to get outside and see the tourist places and Roman ruins. The Maltese Syrah last night went perfect with our street pizza. Cheap and easy! Wish you all were here to hang out with us.
Palm tree - day 4. This morning I met Miss Tokelau, yet another island group that I had never heard of. Miss Tokelau told me that Tokelau is made up of a series of Atolls and her island had a population of 3000. The system is a New Zealand territory. I'm not sure which of the atolls that Miss Tokelau is from but she told me her home is beautiful. No airplanes go there and the ship from Western Samoa saild twice a month but there is no regular schedule. I looked this up and there's a warning that only seaworthy folk should attempt the ocean crossing due to rough seas and crowded travel conditions on deck. I guess it will be a long time before I ever see the Tokelau atolls.
Palm tree photo day 2. So what's the big even this week? The Miss South Pacific beauty pagent. I've been told that it's the largest group in a long time. How many you might wonder? 8. That's it. 8. The group is staying at my hotel so this morning I met Miss American Samoa (she's nice) and watched the live radio interview with Miss Niue about her upcoming cd release. I have no clue where Niue is in the South Pacific so I had to look it up. It's a small island in Polynesia and the currency is the New Zealand dollar and the island is annexed to New Zealand. The pacific islander traditional tattoo event just ended so I missed that. For such a small place, something is always happening in Pago Pago.
Last night I had time to meet up with Ann for dinner and a drink. Ann was in LA from Denver and I had another LA stay before departing to American Samoa this morning. (Blogging from my room in the last few minutes left before LAX). Looks like you'll be back to seeing a palm tree a day photo for the next few days.
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist can be slightly compared to a modern American Graffiti in the sense that the story revolves around one night in the life of high school kids. The same soul searching, car driving, music connection exists but with the appropriate changes for today's world. The characters that we cheer for are likeable and the ones we boo are dislikeable. Both sets are people that we all knew in high school and can relate to. Everything happens in the short 9o minutes. We have break-ups and romance; music, cars, and quests; humor, annoyance, and sadness. The background of New York adds to the ambiance of the story but doesn't detract from what is going on. The story revolves around Nick and Norah, how they meet, what attracts them and prevents them from connecting, and the support or lack of from their friends. We weave through their world as they hunt for a secret band performance and for their drunk and lost friend. Yes, this has the mandatory barf and gr...
Blog Action Day - a day late
Yesterday was Blog Action Day and this year's topic is poverty. Having missed the official blog date due to work, I think that speaks somewhat for itself that poverty is an easy topic to overlook or forget for most of us. In the US, most of the people below our poverty line are still way ahead of people in most of the world. Here, we have access to free, clean drinking water through water fountains in parks, the beach, malls, etc. While not enough to sustain a person on, it is still 100% better than what people living in refugee camps in Darfur experience as they have to trek a couple miles through hostile situations to scoop up dirty, unhygienic water. Yes, poverty can make us fat by choosing generic mac n' cheese as a low budget meal, or the value menu at fast food. We have health problems and obesity as a result but at least most people no matter how poor have a full stomach. When I toss out 1/2 of my burger bun to save calories, I always think about how someone else in th...
Appaloosa
A western or a dog movie were pretty much the choices this week so I went for the western. I guess Appalossa can best be summed up as a movie you sorta like and don't really hate. I have the feeling that the book is a better read. So on to it. What I liked: The friendship and humor between the Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen characters. They are the good guys that could be bad guys in the way that they always are in westerns. The peace enforcer job description works well for both of them. The bad guys. They were bad guys. Jeremy Irons was perfect. Dislike: Renee Zellweger was probably not the best choice for the love interest damsel in need. The 108 minutes went by really, really, slow. When it was all over, I forgave the tediousness of Appaloosa because it ended the right way.
